¨,~*^¤@### ###@¤^*~,¨
¨¨¨,*^^@@@ @@@^^*,¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~^¤¤@# #@¤¤^~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨,*^@# #@^*,¨¨¨¨¨
¨,~*^¤@### ###@¤^*~,¨
¨¨,~*^¤¤¤@ **************************************** @¤¤¤^*~,¨¨
¨,~*^¤@### ###@¤^*~,¨
¨,~*^¤@### 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) ###@¤^*~,¨
¨¨¨¨¨,~~^@ @^~~,¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨,,~^¤@ **************************************** @¤^~,,¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨~*^@@ @@^*~¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~^¤¤¤# #¤¤¤^~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨,~~^@ @^~~,¨¨¨¨¨
¨,~*^^^¤## ##¤^^^*~,¨
¨,~*^¤#### ####¤^*~,¨