elves live  in the land      
        beyond the great dam.     
   it was built in  the late sixties.   
    the  elves came to us then.     
                      
                      
 they  were  very  manipulative,  and  we 
 came to  trust them.          us 
 kids  would play down at the water  even 
 though we were not  allowed.       
     sometimes the  sluice would  close 
 entirely, and  the  river  at  the  dams 
 foot  would dry up,  revealing the rocky 
 water   garden  that  had  been   hidden 
 beneath, and we would go there.      
        before  the dam opened again, 
 there  would  be a signal, but the elves 
 would make us not hear it,  and suddenly 
 we would find the  water rising, already 
 at our  knees.               
                      
   by then the elves would  be  gone.