&£\\»,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,»\\£&
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###&£=\»,¨ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ ¨,»\=£##
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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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