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##@¤@*/«,, «««« ,,«/*@¤@##
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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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