¨¨¨¨¨¨«†¤@ @¤†«¨¨¨¨¨¨
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¨,«:†&¤@@# #@@¤&†:«,¨
¨¨¨¨¨«:&&¤ ¤&&:«¨¨¨¨¨
¨,«:†&&&¤# #¤&&&†:«,¨
¨¨¨,,«:&@# :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: #@&:«,,¨¨¨
¨¨¨,,:&¤@@ @@¤&:,,¨¨¨
¨,«:†&¤@## 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) @¤&†«,¨¨¨¨
¨,:†&¤@### ###@¤&†:,¨
¨,«:†&&¤¤# :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: #¤¤&&†:«,¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨«†¤@ @¤†«¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨,«:††&¤¤# #¤¤&††:«,¨
¨¨¨«:††&¤@ @¤&††:«¨¨¨
¨,«:††&¤@@ @@¤&††:«,¨
¨,«:†&¤@@@ @@@¤&†:«,¨