~~~~
~.. ..~
*. .*
.......~*# ............ * * ............ #*~.......
..~****§## *. .* ##§****~..
..~**§#### ~.. ..~ ####§**~..
..~**§#### ~~~~ ####§**~..
..~~~~*### ###*~~~~..
..~**§#### 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. ####§**~..
..~**§#### ####§**~..
..~**§#### ####§**~..
..~**§§### ###§§**~..
..~**§§### ###§§**~..
..~**§#### ####§**~..