~~~~
~:: ::~
=: :=
#@¶§*%=~:¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ = = ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨:~=%*§¶@#
#@¶§*%=~:¨ =: := ¨:~=%*§¶@#
§*%~~:¨¨¨¨ ~:: ::~ ¨¨¨¨:~~%*§
@¶**%=:¨¨¨ ~~~~ ¨¨¨:=%**¶@
¶**=~¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨~=**¶
@¶¶§*%=~:¨ 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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@@¶§*%=~:¨ ¨:~=%*§¶@@