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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. ¨~»/%&¤###
###¤&%/»~¨ ¨~»/%&¤###
###¤&%/»~¨ ¨~»/%&¤###
###¤&%/»~¨ ¨~»/%&¤###
###¤&%/»~¨ ¨~»/%&¤###
###¤&%/»~¨ ¨~»/%&¤###