~~~~
~:: ::~
\: :\
¶%%\\:,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,, \ \ ,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,:\\%%¶
##¶#%*\~:, \: :\ ,:~\*%#¶##
##¶#%*\~:, ~:: ::~ ,:~\*%#¶##
#%***~~,,, ~~~~ ,,,~~***%#
####%*\~:, ,:~\*%####
##¶#%*\~:, 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. ,,,,,:\%##
##¶#%*\~:, ,:~\*%#¶##
¶%%%\~:,,, ,,,:~\%%%¶
##¶#%*\~:, ,:~\*%#¶##
##¶#%*\~:, ,:~\*%#¶##
##%\\\\~:, ,:~\\\\%##