~~~~
~,, ,,~
=, ,=
§*=,,,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ = = ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,,,=*§
###§**=~,¨ =, ,= ¨,~=**§###
####§*=~,¨ ~,, ,,~ ¨,~=*§####
#*****=~,¨ ~~~~ ¨,~=*****#
###§**=~,¨ ¨,~=**§###
§**=~~,¨¨¨ 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. ¨,~=**§###
##***=,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,=***##
###§**=~,¨ ¨,~=**§###
#§**~~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~~**§#
###§**=~,¨ ¨,~=**§###
###§**=~,¨ ¨,~=**§###