----
-:: ::-
*: :*
####¤**-:. ............ * * ............ .:-**¤####
####¤*†-:. *: :* .:-†*¤####
#**:...... -:: ::- ......:**#
¤†--:..... ---- .....:--†¤
¤†-....... .......-†¤
#*††-..... 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. .:::-****¤
###¤*†*-:. .:-*†*¤###
###¤*†*-:. .:-*†*¤###
###¤*†*-:. .:-*†*¤###
###¤*†*-:. .:-*†*¤###
####*†*-:. .:-*†*####