~~~~
~:: ::~
:: ::
##§$$*:~:, ,,,,,,,,,,,, : : ,,,,,,,,,,,, ,:~:*$$§##
###§$*:~:, :: :: ,:~:*$§###
§*:~~,,,,, ~:: ::~ ,,,,,~~:*§
§$$:::,,,, ~~~~ ,,,,:::$$§
#§§§$*:~:, ,:~:*$§§§#
§$$***:~:, The River That'S Our River Makes A ,:~:***$$§
#§§§$*:~:, Large Bend Like A Scooping Hand And A ,:~:*$§§§#
§§$:~:,,,, Decent Days Travel North From That ,,,,:~:$§§
###§$*:~:, Stands Our House In The Middle Of A ,:~:*$§###
#$$$*:~~:, Forgotten Apple Orchard. Our House Is ,:~~:*$$$#
###§$*:~:, Built Of Dark Clay And Abandoned By A ,:~:*$§###
###§$*:~:, Stranger. The Window Has No Glass But ,:~:*$§###
§$$::,,,,, Instead Steel Bars To Keep The Animals ,,,,,::$$§
##§*~:,,,, 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 ,:~:*§####
##$:~:,,,, And The Orchard. But It Is Hard And We ,,,,:~:$##
##$:~,,,,, Are Distracted. We Are Not As ,,,,,~:$##
###§$*:~:, Persistent As Father And Quickly Fall ,:~:*$§###
###§$*:~:, Behind In Our Duties. ,:~:*$§###
§$*:::::,, ,,:::::*$§
###§$*:~:, ,:~:*$§###
##§$:~~~:, ,:~~~:$§##
#$:::::,,, ,,,:::::$#
####§$*~:, ,:~*$§####