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###¤$%†~:. †: :† .:~†%$¤###
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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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