----
-~~ ~~-
\~ ~\
##@£#§†\-~ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ \ \ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ~-\†§#£@##
#@£#§†\-~¨ \~ ~\ ¨~-\†§#£@#
#†††-~~~¨¨ -~~ ~~- ¨¨~~~-†††#
#@£#§†\-~¨ ---- ¨~-\†§#£@#
££#†††\-~¨ ¨~-\†††#££
#@£#§†\-~¨ 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. ¨~-\†§#@##
@@£#§†\-~¨ ¨~-\†§#£@@
#@£#§†\-~¨ ¨~-\†§#£@#
#†\-~~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~~-\†#
#@£#§†\-~¨ ¨~-\†§#£@#
£##†--¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨--†##£