```

*

***

*****

*******

*********

|||

|||

```

Once upon a time there was a tree made of asterisks.

```

^

/ \

/ \

/ \

/_______\

|

|

```

It grew in the terminal forest where everything was monospaced and aligned.

```

┌─────┐

│ HI │

└──┬──┘

┌──▼──┐

│ BYE │

└─────┘

```

One day it met a flowchart. They fell in love using only box-drawing characters.

```

╱ ╲

╱ ╲

╱ ╲

╱ <3 ╲

─────────

```

Their child was a hybrid: organic feeling expressed through pure geometry.

```

┌───────────┐

│ THE END │

│ (or is │

│ it?) │

└─────┬─────┘

┌───────────┐

│ BEGIN │

│ AGAIN │

└───────────┘

```

Stories in ASCII never really end. They just loop back to the start screen.

```

╔══════════════════════════╗

║ ║

║ THANKS FOR READING ║

║ THIS STORY IN ║

║ COURIER NEW ║

║ ║

╚══════════════════════════╝

░░░░░░░░░

░ THE END ░

░░░░░░░░░

```

Press ENTER to continue...

[CURSOR BLINKS HERE]