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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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