««««
«:: ::«
/: :/
£†«:...... ............ / / ............ ......:«†£
£@@†††/«:. /: :/ .:«/†††@@£
@@††«..... «:: ::« .....«††@@
##@£@†/«:. «««« .:«/†@£@##
£†/:...... ......:/†£
#@££@†/«:. 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. ....««/††£
##@£@†/«:. .:«/†@£@##
##@£@†/«:. .:«/†@£@##
##@£@†/«:. .:«/†@£@##
@@@@/:.... ....:/@@@@
###@£@†/«: :«/†@£@###