~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~
†~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~†
††~^¨¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨¨^~††
$††~^¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨^~††$
#$††~^¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨^~††$#
@#$††~^¨¨¨ ¨                  ¨                   ¨ ¨¨¨^~††$#@
#@#$††~^¨¨ ¨       ¨       ¨      ¨       ¨       ¨ ¨¨^~††$#@#
##@#$††~^¨ ^    ^     ^    ^    ^     ^     ^     ^ ¨^~††$#@##
#@#$††~^¨¨ ~   ~   ~   ~  ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~ ¨¨^~††$#@#
@#$††~^¨¨¨ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ¨¨¨^~††$#@
#$††~^¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨^~††$#
$††~^¨¨¨¨¨ just  off the  coast to  the baltic  sea ¨¨¨¨¨^~††$
††~^¨¨¨¨¨¨    there's a freshwater pond, secluded   ¨¨¨¨¨¨^~††
†~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ among ashen and juniper. a  cleft in the ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~†
~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨  limestone bedrock, sharp-cut from the   ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~
^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨   surrounding plains, a ninety degree    ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ drop down, down,  to  the midnight-black ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨                  water.                  ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨             ~~~~††††††††~~~~             ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^
~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨         ~~††                ††~~         ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~
†~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨  ~~~~~††   fairies live here.   ††~~~~~  ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~†
††~^¨¨¨¨¨¨         ~~††                ††~~         ¨¨¨¨¨¨^~††
$††~^¨¨¨¨¨             ~~~~††††††††~~~~             ¨¨¨¨¨^~††$
#$††~^¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨^~††$#
@#$††~^¨¨¨ they  speak to  the  sloane, caress  it, ¨¨¨^~††$#@
#@#$††~^¨¨ urge it to grow  thicker, tangled,  with ¨¨^~††$#@#
##@#$††~^¨ longer and  sharper thorns. they tell it ¨^~††$#@##
#@#$††~^¨¨ to  stay just  below the grass,  so that ¨¨^~††$#@#
@#$††~^¨¨¨ the  animals  what  come  to  drink  the ¨¨¨^~††$#@
#$††~^¨¨¨¨ water cannot  see  it  before  it  draws ¨¨¨¨^~††$#
$††~^¨¨¨¨¨ their  blood. closer  to  the  pond, the ¨¨¨¨¨^~††$
††~^¨¨¨¨¨¨ sloane  can grow  taller, being able  to ¨¨¨¨¨¨^~††
†~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨        hide also in the juniper.         ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~†
~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~
^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ the fairies will beckon  the animals  to ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ push  forward,  tell  them that  they're ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ almost  at  the  water,  that  they  may ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ drink  soon. and  they will tug  on  the ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ sloane to make sure that  the thorns cut ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^
~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ deep. when  they finally find  the  path ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~
†~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ down  between the  rocks, away  from the ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~†
††~^¨¨¨¨¨¨ bushwork and into  the  cleft, they  are ¨¨¨¨¨¨^~††
$††~^¨¨¨¨¨ bleeding  from  a  thousand  wounds.  as ¨¨¨¨¨^~††$
#$††~^¨¨¨¨ they drink from  the  dark water, it  is ¨¨¨¨^~††$#
@#$††~^¨¨¨ in  turn  drinking  the  animals  blood. ¨¨¨^~††$#@
#@#$††~^¨¨                                          ¨¨^~††$#@#
##@#$††~^¨ the  circle  is complete,  the  contract ¨^~††$#@##
#@#$††~^¨¨ carried out; the animal is  abandoned to ¨¨^~††$#@#
@#$††~^¨¨¨ find its own way back. the  bushes roots ¨¨¨^~††$#@
#$††~^¨¨¨¨ drink the  nutrutious water. the fairies ¨¨¨¨^~††$#
$††~^¨¨¨¨¨          dance in the sunbeams.          ¨¨¨¨¨^~††$
††~^¨¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨¨^~††
†~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~†
~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~  ~ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~
^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ^     ^     ^    ^    ^     ^     ^    ^ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨       ¨      ¨       ¨       ¨       ¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨                   ¨                  ¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^
~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~
†~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~†
††~^¨¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨¨^~††