........-« «-........
.......-«† †«-.......
......-«†* *†«-......
.....-«†*% %*†«-.....
....-«†*%¤ ¤%*†«-....
...-«†*%¤£ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† £¤%*†«-...
..-«†*%¤£# #£¤%*†«-..
.-«†*%¤£## 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) «-........
.......-«† †«-.......
......-«†* †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† *†«-......
.....-«†*% %*†«-.....
....-«†*%¤ ¤%*†«-....
...-«†*%¤£ £¤%*†«-...
..-«†*%¤£# #£¤%*†«-..
.-«†*%¤£## ##£¤%*†«-.