,~-†^$&###                                          ###&$^†-~,
,,~-†^$&##                                          ##&$^†-~,,
,,,~-†^$&#                                          #&$^†-~,,,
,,,,~-†^$&                                          &$^†-~,,,,
,,,,,~-†^$                                          $^†-~,,,,,
,,,,,,~-†^ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ^†-~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~-†                                          †-~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~-†^          mouse girl likes shoes          ^†-~,,,,,,
,,,,,~-†^$                                          $^†-~,,,,,
,,,,~-†^$&                †  †  †  †                &$^†-~,,,,
,,,~-†^$&#                                          #&$^†-~,,,
,,~-†^$&## in this  dream i  was  a  girl of  maybe ##&$^†-~,,
,~-†^$&### sixteen years, together  with my  dad in ###&$^†-~,
,,~-†^$&## a huge  bath  house  /  spa  /  hotel  / ##&$^†-~,,
,,,~-†^$&# shopping centre.      dad was  constatly #&$^†-~,,,
,,,,~-†^$& pointing out hot  girls to me.  "you see &$^†-~,,,,
,,,,,~-†^$   that black-haired thing dissapearing   $^†-~,,,,,
,,,,,,~-†^ behind  the  clothes  rack?  oof!"  he'd ^†-~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~-† say.  he  was always very  creepy  about †-~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~-†^ this,   going    for   girls   my   age. ^†-~,,,,,,
,,,,,~-†^$                                          $^†-~,,,,,
,,,,~-†^$& this night  he had just  tried to woo  a &$^†-~,,,,
,,,~-†^$&# girl he  called a  "mouse" by buying her #&$^†-~,,,
,,~-†^$&## shoes,  but she had accepted  them  only ##&$^†-~,,
,~-†^$&### to run away  immediately  afterward. dad ###&$^†-~,
,,~-†^$&## was   a   bit   bummed  but  dropped  it ##&$^†-~,,
,,,~-†^$&# quickly.  i said  goodnight to  him  and #&$^†-~,,,
,,,,~-†^$&       went looking for the mouse.        &$^†-~,,,,
,,,,,~-†^$                                          $^†-~,,,,,
,,,,,,~-†^ the building  was enormous and mazelike. ^†-~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~-† walls, floors  and pillars  were set  in †-~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~-†^ green marble.  throughout  the house ran ^†-~,,,,,,
,,,,,~-†^$ a  main  boulevard,  wide as  a  street, $^†-~,,,,,
,,,,~-†^$& framed  with clay vases dark as obsidian &$^†-~,,,,
,,,~-†^$&# and taller than a  person.  in each vase #&$^†-~,,,
,,~-†^$&## was placed  upright a  leaf  from a palm ##&$^†-~,,
,~-†^$&### tree  or  giant fern.  the boulevard was ###&$^†-~,
,,~-†^$&## dimly lit, which allowed the  pools that ##&$^†-~,,
,,,~-†^$&#   were generously sprinkled throughout   #&$^†-~,,,
,,,,~-†^$&   each floor would reflect suggestive    &$^†-~,,,,
,,,,,~-†^$          patterns on the marble.         $^†-~,,,,,
,,,,,,~-†^                                          ^†-~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~-†                †  †  †  †                †-~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~-†^                                          ^†-~,,,,,,
,,,,,~-†^$ following  the  boulevard, two floors up $^†-~,,,,,
,,,,~-†^$& i  found  her  crying  behind  two  fern &$^†-~,,,,
,,,~-†^$&# vases.  she  was  beautiful,  and  as  i #&$^†-~,,,
,,~-†^$&## approached, she looked up and  sniveled. ##&$^†-~,,
,~-†^$&### in  the  nearest vase  she  had  stuffed ###&$^†-~,
,,~-†^$&##              both the shoes.             ##&$^†-~,,
,,,~-†^$&#                                          #&$^†-~,,,
,,,,~-†^$& i  told her  to follow, but  she  didn't &$^†-~,,,,
,,,,,~-†^$ move  or  speak.  so instead  i said  to $^†-~,,,,,
,,,,,,~-†^ stay there, and ran to get her  a better ^†-~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~-† pair of  shoes that she  would  actually †-~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~-†^ like.  when  i  returned,  having  spent ^†-~,,,,,,
,,,,,~-†^$ more  than i  could  really afford,  she $^†-~,,,,,
,,,,~-†^$& was visibly impressed. i tried to  sound &$^†-~,,,,
,,,~-†^$&# cool,  saying something  like  "what  do #&$^†-~,,,
,,~-†^$&## you  think,  just  because a girl  has a ##&$^†-~,,
,~-†^$&### freaky  dad,  she  doesn't have  taste?" ###&$^†-~,
,,~-†^$&## but  mouse  girl  just  laughed  at  me. ##&$^†-~,,
,,,~-†^$&#                                          #&$^†-~,,,
,,,,~-†^$& she then took me by the hand and led  me &$^†-~,,,,
,,,,,~-†^$ out  a   side  route   to  a  closed-off $^†-~,,,,,
,,,,,,~-†^ rooftop walking garden, full of  juniper ^†-~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~-† and thuja.  it was  a  late evening, and †-~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~-†^     the stars were glittering. being     ^†-~,,,,,,
,,,,,~-†^$ closed, the garden had  its light turned $^†-~,,,,,
,,,,~-†^$& off, but  we  could  still  see our  way &$^†-~,,,,
,,,~-†^$&# around by the  light  shining  down from #&$^†-~,,,
,,~-†^$&## the   windows  of   the  higher  floors. ##&$^†-~,,
,~-†^$&###                                          ###&$^†-~,
,,~-†^$&## she lay  down in a patch of grass. i sat ##&$^†-~,,
,,,~-†^$&# down  on  my  knees,  and  then  crawled #&$^†-~,,,
,,,,~-†^$& closer.  she  laughed  at me  again, and &$^†-~,,,,
,,,,,~-†^$                  said -                  $^†-~,,,,,
,,,,,,~-†^                                          ^†-~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~-†                †  †  †  †                †-~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~-†^                                          ^†-~,,,,,,
,,,,,~-†^$ (here i am awakened by the morning crew) $^†-~,,,,,
,,,,~-†^$&                                          &$^†-~,,,,
,,,~-†^$&# †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† #&$^†-~,,,
,,~-†^$&##                                          ##&$^†-~,,
,~-†^$&###                                          ###&$^†-~,
,,~-†^$&##                                          ##&$^†-~,,
,,,~-†^$&#                                          #&$^†-~,,,
,,,,~-†^$&                                          &$^†-~,,,,