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¨¨¨¨¨¨:\%# A HUGE BATH HOUSE / SPA / HOTEL / #%\:¨¨¨¨¨¨
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¨¨¨¨¨«$££# POINTING OUT HOT GIRLS TO ME. "YOU SEE #££$«¨¨¨¨¨
¨:«\$%#### 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. #%%\«::¨¨¨
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¨:«\$%£### 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. #£%$$\«:¨¨
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¨:«\$%£### THE BUILDING WAS ENORMOUS AND MAZELIKE. ###£%$\«:¨
¨¨¨¨¨:\$£# WALLS, FLOORS AND PILLARS WERE SET IN #£$\:¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨«\%£££ GREEN MARBLE. THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE RAN £££%\«¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨«$$%££ A MAIN BOULEVARD, WIDE AS A STREET, ££%$$«¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨«\\$£## FRAMED WITH CLAY VASES DARK AS OBSIDIAN ##£$\\«¨¨¨
¨:«\$%£### AND TALLER THAN A PERSON. IN EACH VASE ###£%$\«:¨
¨:«\$%£### WAS PLACED UPRIGHT A LEAF FROM A PALM ###£%$\«:¨
¨:«\$%£### TREE OR GIANT FERN. THE BOULEVARD WAS ###£%$\«:¨
¨¨¨:«\%%%£ DIMLY LIT, WHICH ALLOWED THE POOLS THAT £%%%\«:¨¨¨
¨:«\$%£### WERE GENEROUSLY SPRINKLED THROUGHOUT ###£%$\«:¨
¨:«\$%££## EACH FLOOR WOULD REFLECT SUGGESTIVE ##££%$\«:¨
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¨¨::«\\$%£ I FOUND HER CRYING BEHIND TWO FERN £%$\\«::¨¨
¨:«\$%£### VASES. SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL, AND AS I ###£%$\«:¨
¨:«\$%%%## APPROACHED, SHE LOOKED UP AND SNIVELED. ##%%%$\«:¨
¨:«\$%££## IN THE NEAREST VASE SHE HAD STUFFED ##££%$\«:¨
¨:«\$$$%£# BOTH THE SHOES. #£%$$$\«:¨
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¨¨¨¨::«$%# I TOLD HER TO FOLLOW, BUT SHE DIDN'T #%$«::¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨:«\$$£ MOVE OR SPEAK. SO INSTEAD I SAID TO £$$\«:¨¨¨¨
¨:«\$%£### STAY THERE, AND RAN TO GET HER A BETTER ###£%$\«:¨
¨:«\\$$££# PAIR OF SHOES THAT SHE WOULD ACTUALLY #££$$\\«:¨
¨:«\$%£### LIKE. WHEN I RETURNED, HAVING SPENT ###£%$\«:¨
¨::«\\\\%£ MORE THAN I COULD REALLY AFFORD, SHE £%\\\\«::¨
¨:«\$%%££# WAS VISIBLY IMPRESSED. I TRIED TO SOUND #££%%$\«:¨
¨:«\\\$%## COOL, SAYING SOMETHING LIKE "WHAT DO ##%$\\\«:¨
¨:«\$%£### YOU THINK, JUST BECAUSE A GIRL HAS A ###£%$\«:¨
¨:«\$%£### FREAKY DAD, SHE DOESN'T HAVE TASTE?" ###£%$\«:¨
¨¨¨¨¨:«$£# BUT MOUSE GIRL JUST LAUGHED AT ME. #£$«:¨¨¨¨¨
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¨:«\$$$%%£ 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. ###£%$\«:¨
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¨:«\$%£### SHE LAY DOWN IN A PATCH OF GRASS. I SAT ###£%$\«:¨
¨:«\$%£### DOWN ON MY KNEES, AND THEN CRAWLED ###£%$\«:¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨:\%£ CLOSER. SHE LAUGHED AT ME AGAIN, AND £%\:¨¨¨¨¨¨
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