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@££¤$%=~^¨ ¨^~=%$¤££@
¤%%~¨¨¨¨¨¨ MOUSE GIRL LIKES SHOES ¨¨¨¨¨¨~%%¤
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#@£¤$%=~^¨ = = = = ¨^~=%$¤£@#
#@£¤$%=~^¨ ¨^~=%$¤£@#
#@£¤$%=~^¨ IN THIS DREAM I WAS A GIRL OF MAYBE ¨^~=%$¤£@#
¤¤¤¤$%=~^¨ SIXTEEN YEARS, TOGETHER WITH MY DAD IN ¨^~=%$¤¤¤¤
#@£¤$%=~^¨ A HUGE BATH HOUSE / SPA / HOTEL / ¨^~=%$¤£@#
£$%~¨¨¨¨¨¨ SHOPPING CENTRE. DAD WAS CONSTATLY ¨¨¨¨¨¨~%$£
#@£¤$%=~^¨ POINTING OUT HOT GIRLS TO ME. "YOU SEE ¨^~=%$¤£@#
£¤¤%%%=~^¨ 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) ¨¨¨¨^^=%¤¤
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