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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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