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##¶§$%*»^¨ The River That'S Our River Makes A ¨^»*%$§¶##
¶§§$**»»^¨ Large Bend Like A Scooping Hand And A ¨^»»**$§§¶
¶$*^¨¨¨¨¨¨ Decent Days Travel North From That ¨¨¨¨¨¨^*$¶
##¶§$%*»^¨ Stands Our House In The Middle Of A ¨^»*%$§¶##
##¶§$%*»^¨ Forgotten Apple Orchard. Our House Is ¨^»*%$§¶##
§$$$*^¨¨¨¨ Built Of Dark Clay And Abandoned By A ¨¨¨¨^*$$$§
§$*^^¨¨¨¨¨ Stranger. The Window Has No Glass But ¨¨¨¨¨^^*$§
#¶$%%»¨¨¨¨ Instead Steel Bars To Keep The Animals ¨¨¨¨»%%$¶#
##¶§$%*»^¨ Out. ¨^»*%$§¶##
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§§§§$%*»^¨ Around The House Is A Thick, Thick ¨^»*%$§§§§
##¶§$%*»^¨ Brush Of Ferns And Bushes. There Live ¨^»*%$§¶##
###§$%*»^¨ The Animals That We Fight To Keep Away, ¨^»*%$§###
#§%»^¨¨¨¨¨ 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 ¨¨¨¨^»*%%§
##¶§$%*»^¨ Be Done By Animals. (Father Says This.) ¨^»*%$§¶##
##¶§$%*»^¨ ¨^»*%$§¶##
§$$$%%*»^¨ Every Morning Our Father Clears The ¨^»*%%$$$§
###¶§$*»^¨ Ferns And Uproots The Bushes Only For ¨^»*$§¶###
##¶§$%*»^¨ Them To Grow Back Each Night. Their ¨^»*%$§¶##
¶§§$*^¨¨¨¨ Leaves Are Teal, White And Yellow, Some ¨¨¨¨^*$§§¶
##¶§$%*»^¨ Even The Color Of Wine. They Have Lilac ¨^»*%$§¶##
##¶§$%*»^¨ Flowers And In The Morning They Are Wet ¨^»*%$§¶##
¶$**^¨¨¨¨¨ With Dew. ¨¨¨¨¨^**$¶
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##¶§$%*»^¨ Father Is Away During The Day Doing ¨^»*%$§¶##
#§§§$%*»^¨ Important Things Elsewhere. He Is Weary ¨^»*%$§§§#
#¶$***^¨¨¨ When He Returns Home, Each Day More So ¨¨¨^***$¶#
¶$%»¨¨¨¨¨¨ Than The Next. We Learn To Cook For Him ¨¨¨¨¨¨»%$¶
¶§$%»»^^¨¨ So That He Does Not Have To. We Tend To ¨¨^^»»%$§¶
¶¶$*^¨¨¨¨¨ His Clothes. ¨¨¨¨¨^*$¶¶
§%»»»»¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨»»»»%§
##¶§$%*»^¨ Suddenly The Dense Bushwork Is Mirrored ¨^»*%$§¶##
¶$$%»»¨¨¨¨ Inside. Stems And Leaves Appear Close ¨¨¨¨»»%$$¶
§§§§$%*»^¨ To The Walls And Far From The Light. We ¨^»*%$§§§§
¶§%»»¨¨¨¨¨ 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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