~~~~
~^^ ^^~
;^ ^;
¨¨¨¨¨^~;$% ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ; ; ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ %$;~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~;$ ;^ ^; $;~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~; ~^^ ^^~ ;~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~ ~~~~ ~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^ ^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ The River That'S Our River Makes A ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^ Large Bend Like A Scooping Hand And A ^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~ Decent Days Travel North From That ~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~; Stands Our House In The Middle Of A ;~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~;$ 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. ##%$;~^¨¨¨
¨¨^~;$%##@ @##%$;~^¨¨
¨^~;$%##@# #@##%$;~^¨
^~;$%##@## ##@##%$;~^
¨^~;$%##@# #@##%$;~^¨
¨¨^~;$%##@ @##%$;~^¨¨