,,~†^*&###                                          ###&*^†~,,
,,~†^*&&&#                                          #&&&*^†~,,
,,~†^*&###                                          ###&*^†~,,
,,~†^*&###                                          ###&*^†~,,
,,~†^*&###                                          ###&*^†~,,
,,~†^*&### †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ###&*^†~,,
,,~†^^^**#                                          #**^^^†~,,
,,~†^*&###          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) &&*†~~,,,,
,,~††^*&##                                          ##&*^††~,,
,,~†^*&### †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ###&*^†~,,
,,~†^*&&##                                          ##&&*^†~,,
,,~††^^&##                                          ##&^^††~,,
,,,,,††*&#                                          #&*††,,,,,
,,~†^*&###                                          ###&*^†~,,
,,~†^*&###                                          ###&*^†~,,