~~~~
~-- --~
*- -*
.#.##..#.. ............ * * ............ #...#....#
...###..#. *- -* ##...#....
...#.##..# ~-- --~ .##...#...
.....###.. ~~~~ .###...#..
.....#.##. .#.##...#.
.......### 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. .##....#.#
##...#.... .###.....#
.##...#... .#.##....#
.###...#.. ...###....
.#.##...#. #..#.##...
...###...# ##...###..