#@£§$§†~,,                                          ,,~†§$§£@#
##@§$§†~,,                                          ,,~†§$§@##
##@£§§†~,,                                          ,,~†§§£@##
§§§††,,,,,                                          ,,,,,††§§§
@£§§†††~,,                                          ,,~†††§§£@
§$§†~,,,,, †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ,,,,,~†§$§
££$†~,,,,,                                          ,,,,,~†$££
##£§$§†~,,          Mouse girl Likes Shoes          ,,~†§$§£##
#@£§$§†~,,                                          ,,~†§$§£@#
£$††~,,,,,                †  †  †  †                ,,,,,~††$£
§$†,,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,,†$§
@@£§$§†~,, In  This  Dream  I Was  A Girl  Of Maybe ,,~†§$§£@@
§§$†,,,,,, Sixteen  Years, Together With  My Dad In ,,,,,,†$§§
@£§§§††~,, 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 ,,,,,,~†§§
#@£§$§†~,, Freaky  Dad, She  Doesn'T  Have  Taste?" ,,~†§$§£@#
@@£§$§†~,, But  Mouse  Girl  Just  Laughed  At  Me. ,,~†§$§£@@
##@§$§†~,,                                          ,,~†§$§@##
£$$§~,,,,, She Then Took Me By  The Hand And Led Me ,,,,,~§$$£
£$$$§~,,,, Out  A   Side  Route  To   A  Closed-Off ,,,,~§$$$£
§$§†~~,,,, Rooftop Walking  Garden, Full Of Juniper ,,,,~~†§$§
#@£§$§†~,, And Thuja.  It  Was A Late Evening,  And ,,~†§$§£@#
##@§$§†~,,     The Stars Were Glittering. Being     ,,~†§$§@##
£$††~~~,,, Closed,  The Garden Had Its Light Turned ,,,~~~††$£
#@£§$§†~,, Off,  But  We Could Still  See  Our  Way ,,~†§$§£@#
#@£§$§†~,, Around  By  The  Light Shining Down From ,,~†§$§£@#
@£$§§~~,,, The  Windows   Of  The   Higher  Floors. ,,,~~§§$£@
#@£§$§†~,,                                          ,,~†§$§£@#
@££§$§†~,, She Lay  Down In A Patch Of Grass. I Sat ,,~†§$§££@
#@£§$§†~,, Down  On  My  Knees,  And  Then  Crawled ,,~†§$§£@#
#@£§$§†~,, Closer.  She  Laughed At  Me Again,  And ,,~†§$§£@#
§§$§†~,,,,                  Said -                  ,,,,~†§$§§
§$††††~,,,                                          ,,,~††††$§
£§§§$§†~,,                †  †  †  †                ,,~†§$§§§£
£$§§†,,,,,                                          ,,,,,†§§$£
#@£§$§†~,, (Here I Am Awakened By The Morning Crew) ,,~†§$§£@#
§$†~,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,~†$§
##@§$§†~,, †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ,,~†§$§@##
@§§§§§†~,,                                          ,,~†§§§§§@
@@£§$§†~,,                                          ,,~†§$§£@@
#@£§$§†~,,                                          ,,~†§$§£@#
@£§§§††~,,                                          ,,~††§§§£@
§§§$†††~,,                                          ,,~†††$§§§