#%†~~..... .....~~†%#
#%%%†^.... ....^†%%%#
¤¤%%††^^.. ..^^††%%¤¤
#%%~^^.... ....^^~%%#
###¤%%†~^. .^~†%%¤###
###¤%%†~^. †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† .^~†%%¤###
#¤%~^^.... ....^^~%¤#
###¤%%†~^. 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) .^~†%%¤###
###¤%%†~^. .^~†%%¤###
¤%†^...... †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ......^†%¤
###¤%%†~^. .^~†%%¤###
###¤%%†~^. .^~†%%¤###
###¤%%†~^. .^~†%%¤###
###¤%%†~^. .^~†%%¤###
###¤%%†~^. .^~†%%¤###