~~~~
~.. ..~
*. .*
£%*~...... ............ * * ............ ......~*%£
#£%*~..... *. .* .....~*%£#
##£%*~.... ~.. ..~ ....~*%£##
###£%*~... ~~~~ ...~*%£###
####£%*~.. ..~*%£####
###£%*~... 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. ....~*%£##
###£%*~... ...~*%£###
####£%*~.. ..~*%£####
###£%*~... ...~*%£###
##£%*~.... ....~*%£##
#£%*~..... .....~*%£#