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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. ,,,,,,,~^§
##@§%^*~., ,.~*^%§@##
@%%**..,,, ,,,..**%%@
##@§%^*~., ,.~*^%§@##
@%*~.,,,,, ,,,,,.~*%@
@@%*~.,,,, ,,,,.~*%@@