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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. ...#....#.
.....###.. ....#....#
#....#.##. .....#....
.#.....### ......#...
..#....#.# .......#..
...#.....# ........#.