====
=.. ..=
†. .†
§§***†==.. ............ † † ............ ..==†***§§
##@§%*†=.. †. .† ..=†*%§@##
@§§§%*†=.. =.. ..= ..=†*%§§§@
§%†=...... ==== ......=†%§
##@§%*†=.. ..=†*%§@##
§§*††..... 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. ..=†*%§@##
§%††=..... .....=††%§
@%%*=..... .....=*%%@
@%*=...... ......=*%@
§**†...... ......†**§
###@%*†=.. ..=†*%@###