....~«†^*§                                          §*^†«~....
.....~«†^*                                          *^†«~.....
......~«†^                                          ^†«~......
.....~«†^*                                          *^†«~.....
....~«†^*§                                          §*^†«~....
...~«†^*§¶ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ¶§*^†«~...
..~«†^*§¶#                                          #¶§*^†«~..
.~«†^*§¶##          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) §*^†«~....
.....~«†^*                                          *^†«~.....
......~«†^ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ^†«~......
.....~«†^*                                          *^†«~.....
....~«†^*§                                          §*^†«~....
...~«†^*§¶                                          ¶§*^†«~...
..~«†^*§¶#                                          #¶§*^†«~..
.~«†^*§¶##                                          ##¶§*^†«~.