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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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