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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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