####$$/~,¨ ¨,~/$$####
###$$/~,¨¨ ¨¨,~/$$###
##$$/~,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,~/$$##
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
$/~,¨¨¨¨¨¨ //////////////////////////////////////// ¨¨¨¨¨¨,~/$
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ MOUSE GIRL LIKES SHOES ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#
##$$/~,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,~/$$##
###$$/~,¨¨ / / / / ¨¨,~/$$###
####$$/~,¨ ¨,~/$$####
###$$/~,¨¨ IN THIS DREAM I WAS A GIRL OF MAYBE ¨¨,~/$$###
##$$/~,¨¨¨ SIXTEEN YEARS, TOGETHER WITH MY DAD IN ¨¨¨,~/$$##
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ A HUGE BATH HOUSE / SPA / HOTEL / ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ SHOPPING CENTRE. DAD WAS CONSTATLY ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
$/~,¨¨¨¨¨¨ POINTING OUT HOT GIRLS TO ME. "YOU SEE ¨¨¨¨¨¨,~/$
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ THAT BLACK-HAIRED THING DISSAPEARING ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ BEHIND THE CLOTHES RACK? OOF!" HE'D ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#
##$$/~,¨¨¨ SAY. HE WAS ALWAYS VERY CREEPY ABOUT ¨¨¨,~/$$##
###$$/~,¨¨ THIS, GOING FOR GIRLS MY AGE. ¨¨,~/$$###
####$$/~,¨ ¨,~/$$####
###$$/~,¨¨ THIS NIGHT HE HAD JUST TRIED TO WOO A ¨¨,~/$$###
##$$/~,¨¨¨ GIRL HE CALLED A "MOUSE" BY BUYING HER ¨¨¨,~/$$##
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ SHOES, BUT SHE HAD ACCEPTED THEM ONLY ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ TO RUN AWAY IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARD. DAD ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
$/~,¨¨¨¨¨¨ WAS A BIT BUMMED BUT DROPPED IT ¨¨¨¨¨¨,~/$
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ QUICKLY. I SAID GOODNIGHT TO HIM AND ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ WENT LOOKING FOR THE MOUSE. ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#
##$$/~,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,~/$$##
###$$/~,¨¨ THE BUILDING WAS ENORMOUS AND MAZELIKE. ¨¨,~/$$###
####$$/~,¨ WALLS, FLOORS AND PILLARS WERE SET IN ¨,~/$$####
###$$/~,¨¨ GREEN MARBLE. THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE RAN ¨¨,~/$$###
##$$/~,¨¨¨ A MAIN BOULEVARD, WIDE AS A STREET, ¨¨¨,~/$$##
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ FRAMED WITH CLAY VASES DARK AS OBSIDIAN ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ AND TALLER THAN A PERSON. IN EACH VASE ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
$/~,¨¨¨¨¨¨ WAS PLACED UPRIGHT A LEAF FROM A PALM ¨¨¨¨¨¨,~/$
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ TREE OR GIANT FERN. THE BOULEVARD WAS ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ DIMLY LIT, WHICH ALLOWED THE POOLS THAT ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#
##$$/~,¨¨¨ WERE GENEROUSLY SPRINKLED THROUGHOUT ¨¨¨,~/$$##
###$$/~,¨¨ EACH FLOOR WOULD REFLECT SUGGESTIVE ¨¨,~/$$###
####$$/~,¨ PATTERNS ON THE MARBLE. ¨,~/$$####
###$$/~,¨¨ ¨¨,~/$$###
##$$/~,¨¨¨ / / / / ¨¨¨,~/$$##
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ FOLLOWING THE BOULEVARD, TWO FLOORS UP ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
$/~,¨¨¨¨¨¨ I FOUND HER CRYING BEHIND TWO FERN ¨¨¨¨¨¨,~/$
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ VASES. SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL, AND AS I ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ APPROACHED, SHE LOOKED UP AND SNIVELED. ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#
##$$/~,¨¨¨ IN THE NEAREST VASE SHE HAD STUFFED ¨¨¨,~/$$##
###$$/~,¨¨ BOTH THE SHOES. ¨¨,~/$$###
####$$/~,¨ ¨,~/$$####
###$$/~,¨¨ I TOLD HER TO FOLLOW, BUT SHE DIDN'T ¨¨,~/$$###
##$$/~,¨¨¨ MOVE OR SPEAK. SO INSTEAD I SAID TO ¨¨¨,~/$$##
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ STAY THERE, AND RAN TO GET HER A BETTER ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ PAIR OF SHOES THAT SHE WOULD ACTUALLY ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
$/~,¨¨¨¨¨¨ LIKE. WHEN I RETURNED, HAVING SPENT ¨¨¨¨¨¨,~/$
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ MORE THAN I COULD REALLY AFFORD, SHE ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ WAS VISIBLY IMPRESSED. I TRIED TO SOUND ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#
##$$/~,¨¨¨ COOL, SAYING SOMETHING LIKE "WHAT DO ¨¨¨,~/$$##
###$$/~,¨¨ YOU THINK, JUST BECAUSE A GIRL HAS A ¨¨,~/$$###
####$$/~,¨ FREAKY DAD, SHE DOESN'T HAVE TASTE?" ¨,~/$$####
###$$/~,¨¨ BUT MOUSE GIRL JUST LAUGHED AT ME. ¨¨,~/$$###
##$$/~,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,~/$$##
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ SHE THEN TOOK ME BY THE HAND AND LED ME ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ OUT A SIDE ROUTE TO A CLOSED-OFF ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
$/~,¨¨¨¨¨¨ ROOFTOP WALKING GARDEN, FULL OF JUNIPER ¨¨¨¨¨¨,~/$
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ AND THUJA. IT WAS A LATE EVENING, AND ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ THE STARS WERE GLITTERING. BEING ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#
##$$/~,¨¨¨ CLOSED, THE GARDEN HAD ITS LIGHT TURNED ¨¨¨,~/$$##
###$$/~,¨¨ OFF, BUT WE COULD STILL SEE OUR WAY ¨¨,~/$$###
####$$/~,¨ AROUND BY THE LIGHT SHINING DOWN FROM ¨,~/$$####
###$$/~,¨¨ THE WINDOWS OF THE HIGHER FLOORS. ¨¨,~/$$###
##$$/~,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,~/$$##
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ SHE LAY DOWN IN A PATCH OF GRASS. I SAT ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ DOWN ON MY KNEES, AND THEN CRAWLED ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
$/~,¨¨¨¨¨¨ CLOSER. SHE LAUGHED AT ME AGAIN, AND ¨¨¨¨¨¨,~/$
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ SAID - ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#
##$$/~,¨¨¨ / / / / ¨¨¨,~/$$##
###$$/~,¨¨ ¨¨,~/$$###
####$$/~,¨ (HERE I AM AWAKENED BY THE MORNING CREW) ¨,~/$$####
###$$/~,¨¨ ¨¨,~/$$###
##$$/~,¨¨¨ //////////////////////////////////////// ¨¨¨,~/$$##
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
$/~,¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨,~/$
$$/~,¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨,~/$$
#$$/~,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,~/$$#