..«†%$¤###                                          ###¤$%†«..
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..«†%$¤###                                          ###¤$%†«..
..«†%$¤###                                          ###¤$%†«..
.......†%¤                                          ¤%†.......
..«†%$#### †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ####$%†«..
......†$¤¤                                          ¤¤$†......
..«†%$¤###          mouse girl likes shoes          ###¤$%†«..
.....«†$¤¤                                          ¤¤$†«.....
..«†%$¤###                †  †  †  †                ###¤$%†«..
....†††%¤¤                                          ¤¤%†††....
......«†$# in this  dream  i  was  a girl  of maybe #$†«......
..«†%$¤### sixteen  years, together  with my dad in ###¤$%†«..
..«†%$¤### a  huge  bath  house /  spa  /  hotel  / ###¤$%†«..
..««†%%$## shopping centre.       dad was constatly ##$%%†««..
..«†%$¤### pointing out hot girls  to  me. "you see ###¤$%†«..
..«†%$¤¤¤#   that black-haired thing dissapearing   #¤¤¤$%†«..
..«†%$¤### behind  the  clothes  rack?  oof!"  he'd ###¤$%†«..
..«†%$¤### say. he  was  always  very creepy  about ###¤$%†«..
..«†%$¤### this,   going    for   girls   my   age. ###¤$%†«..
..««†%%$$¤                                          ¤$$%%†««..
..«†%$¤### this  night he  had just  tried to woo a ###¤$%†«..
.......«%¤ 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 -                  #¤¤%†«««..
..«†††$$$#                                          #$$$†††«..
..«†%%%%¤#                †  †  †  †                #¤%%%%†«..
..«†%$¤###                                          ###¤$%†«..
......«%$# (here i am awakened by the morning crew) #$%«......
.....«†$¤#                                          #¤$†«.....
..«†%$¤¤## †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ##¤¤$%†«..
..«†%$¤###                                          ###¤$%†«..
..«†%$¤###                                          ###¤$%†«..
..«†%$$$$#                                          #$$$$%†«..
......«%$#                                          #$%«......
..«†%$¤###                                          ###¤$%†«..