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~,, ,,~
/, ,/
##£§@^/~,. ............ / / ............ .,~/^@§£##
§@/~...... /, ,/ ......~/@§
£§^^^/,... ~,, ,,~ ...,/^^^§£
§@^~...... ~~~~ ......~^@§
££§@/,.... ....,/@§££
##£§@^/~,. 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. .....,,/@£
§§^///,,,. .,,,///^§§
##£§@^/~,. .,~/^@§£##
##£§@^/~,. .,~/^@§£##
##£§@^/~,. .,~/^@§£##
#§^~~~~... ...~~~~^§#