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#$$$~,,,,, ~~~ ~~~ ,,,,,~$$$#
@#$$$$\~~, ~~~~ ,~~\$$$$#@
¶¶$\\~~,,, ,,,~~\\$¶¶
¶¶$$\\\~~, The River That'S Our River Makes A ,~~\\\$$¶¶
##@¶#$$~~, Large Bend Like A Scooping Hand And A ,~~$$#¶@##
¶#$\\~,,,, Decent Days Travel North From That ,,,,~\\$#¶
¶¶#$$$\~~, Stands Our House In The Middle Of A ,~~\$$$#¶¶
@#$$$~,,,, Forgotten Apple Orchard. Our House Is ,,,,~$$$#@
##@#$$\~~, Built Of Dark Clay And Abandoned By A ,~~\$$#@##
#@¶#$$\~~, Stranger. The Window Has No Glass But ,~~\$$#¶@#
###$$$\~~, Instead Steel Bars To Keep The Animals ,~~\$$$###
@¶$$\~,,,, Out. ,,,,~\$$¶@
@@¶#$$\~~, ,~~\$$#¶@@
#$\\~,,,,, Around The House Is A Thick, Thick ,,,,,~\\$#
@#$$$~~,,, Brush Of Ferns And Bushes. There Live ,,,~~$$$#@
#$$$~,,,,, The Animals That We Fight To Keep Away, ,,,,,~$$$#
¶¶¶#$$\~~, For They Speak To Us To Join Them In ,~~\$$#¶¶¶
####$$\~~, The Luscious Caves Below Ground. They ,~~\$$####
##@¶$$\~~, Mean No Harm But It Is Not In Our Best ,~~\$$¶@##
#@¶#$$\~~, Interest To Do So. There Is Important ,~~\$$#¶@#
#@¶#$$\~~, Work That Needs To Be Done, And It Cant ,~~\$$#¶@#
@###$$\~~, Be Done By Animals. (Father Says This.) ,~~\$$###@
###$\\~,,, ,,,~\\$###
#$\~,,,,,, Every Morning Our Father Clears The ,,,,,,~\$#
#@¶#$$\~~, Ferns And Uproots The Bushes Only For ,~~\$$#¶@#
#$$$~~,,,, Them To Grow Back Each Night. Their ,,,,~~$$$#
¶$$$$\\~~, Leaves Are Teal, White And Yellow, Some ,~~\\$$$$¶
##@¶$$\~~, Even The Color Of Wine. They Have Lilac ,~~\$$¶@##
##@¶$$\~~, Flowers And In The Morning They Are Wet ,~~\$$¶@##
@¶$$\~,,,, With Dew. ,,,,~\$$¶@
@@¶#$$\~~, ,~~\$$#¶@@
@#$$$$\~~, Father Is Away During The Day Doing ,~~\$$$$#@
¶¶$\~~,,,, Important Things Elsewhere. He Is Weary ,,,,~~\$¶¶
#@¶#$$\~~, When He Returns Home, Each Day More So ,~~\$$#¶@#
#@¶#$$\~~, Than The Next. We Learn To Cook For Him ,~~\$$#¶@#
@#$\~~~~,, So That He Does Not Have To. We Tend To ,,~~~~\$#@
#@¶#$$\~~, His Clothes. ,~~\$$#¶@#
#$$$\\~~~, ,~~~\\$$$#
@##$$~~~~, Suddenly The Dense Bushwork Is Mirrored ,~~~~$$##@
¶#$$$~~,,, Inside. Stems And Leaves Appear Close ,,,~~$$$#¶
#$\\~~,,,, To The Walls And Far From The Light. We ,,,,~~\\$#
#$$$\~~,,, Are Glad, For The Flowers Are Beautiful ,,,~~\$$$#
#@¶#$$\~~, And Smell Good, And There Is Little ,~~\$$#¶@#
####$$\~~, Decoration In Our House. But When ,~~\$$####
##@#$$\~~, Father Comes Home He Is Angry And Cuts ,~~\$$#@##
##@¶#$$\~~ Them All Down In A Frenzy. We Are ~~\$$#¶@##
@##$~~~,,, Scared Of Him Then. ,,,~~~$##@
@#$$$\~~~, ,~~~\$$$#@
##@#$$\~~, We Are Then Tasked With Removing Any ,~~\$$#@##
#@¶#$$\~~, Indoor Plant We See. But They Are So ,~~\$$#¶@#
#@¶#$$\~~, Beautiful! We Wait Just Until Father ,~~\$$#¶@#
#@¶#$$\~~, Comes Home And Until Then We Enjoy ,~~\$$#¶@#
#@¶#$$\~~, Them. Sometimes An Animal Will Sneak In ,~~\$$#¶@#
¶#$~~,,,,, But We Always Shoo Them Out. With Fresh ,,,,,~~$#¶
#@¶#$$\~~, Cut Flowers Thrown Right Outside The ,~~\$$#¶@#
##@#$$\~~, House He Suspects And Resents Our ,~~\$$#@##
#@¶#$$\~~, Inaction. But He Doesn'T Have The ,~~\$$#¶@#
@¶$$~,,,,, Energy To Scold Us. He Weakens Quickly. ,,,,,~$$¶@
##@¶#$$\~, It Is Not Long Before He Is Still Tired ,~\$$#¶@##
#@¶#$$\~~, Even In The Morning And Must ,~~\$$#¶@#
#@¶#$$\~~, Reluctantly Leave The Outdoor Weed ,~~\$$#¶@#
#$$\~,,,,, Cutting To Us As Well, Untrusting That ,,,,,~\$$#
@@¶#$$\~~, We Will Carry It Out. ,~~\$$#¶@@
¶#$~~~,,,, ,,,,~~~$#¶
##@¶#$\~~, Now He Leaves As Soon As He'S Awake And ,~~\$#¶@##
#$$$~~~,,, Falls Asleep As Soon As He Returns. We ,,,~~~$$$#
@#$\~~~~~, Are Left To Care For Us And The House ,~~~~~\$#@
@#$\\~,,,, And The Orchard. But It Is Hard And We ,,,,~\\$#@
#@¶#$$\~~, Are Distracted. We Are Not As ,~~\$$#¶@#
#@¶#$$\~~, Persistent As Father And Quickly Fall ,~~\$$#¶@#
#$\\~~~,,, Behind In Our Duties. ,,,~~~\\$#
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