~~~~
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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. ¨^~\=%§###
###§%=\~^¨ ¨^~\=%§###
####§=\~^¨ ¨^~\=§####
###§%=\~^¨ ¨^~\=%§###
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§=\~^¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨^~\=§