~~~~
~~~ ~~~
*~ ~*
#@%%***~~, ,,,,,,,,,,,, * * ,,,,,,,,,,,, ,~~***%%@#
##£@@%*~~, *~ ~* ,~~*%@@£##
@%%~,,,,,, ~~~ ~~~ ,,,,,,~%%@
##£@@%*~~, ~~~~ ,~~*%@@£##
#£@@@%*~~, ,~~*%@@@£#
##£@@%*~~, 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. ,~~~****%@
£@%%%%*~~, ,~~*%%%%@£
£@%%**~~~, ,~~~**%%@£
##£@@%*~~, ,~~*%@@£##
##£@@%*~~, ,~~*%@@£##
##£@@%*~~, ,~~*%@@£##