~~~~
~,, ,,~
=, ,=
##@#&*=~,, ,,,,,,,,,,,, = = ,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,~=*@##
##@#&*=~,, =, ,= ,,~=*@##
##@#&*=~,, ~,, ,,~ ,,~=*@##
#&*===~~,, ~~~~ ,,~~===*
#@&=~,,,,, ,,,,,~=&@#
####&*=~,, 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. ,,~=*@##
##@#&*=~,, ,,~=*@##
##@#&*=~,, ,,~=*@##
##@#&*=~,, ,,~=*@##
@&*~,,,,,, ,,,,,,~*&@
##@#&*=~,, ,,~=*@##