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##¶§£†=~.¨ MOUSE GIRL LIKES SHOES ¨.~=†£§¶##
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##¶§£†=~.¨ = = = = ¨.~=†£§¶##
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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 - ¨.~=†£§§§§
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##¶§£†=~.¨ = = = = ¨.~=†£§¶##
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§££=.¨¨¨¨¨ (HERE I AM AWAKENED BY THE MORNING CREW) ¨¨¨¨¨.=££§
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