~~~~
~~~ ~~~
^~ ~^
#@§£$^~~.. ............ ^ ^ ............ ..~~^$£§@#
##@§£$^~~. ^~ ~^ .~~^$£§@##
#@§£$^~~.. ~~~ ~~~ ..~~^$£§@#
@§£$^~~... ~~~~ ...~~^$£§@
§£$^~~.... ....~~^$£§
£$^~~..... The River That'S Our River Makes A .....~~^$£
$^~~...... Large Bend Like A Scooping Hand And A ......~~^$
^~~....... 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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