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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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