¨~~=†$@@## ##@@$†=~~¨
¨~~=††$@@@ @@@$††=~~¨
¨¨¨~~†††@@ @@†††~~¨¨¨
¨~~=†$@@## ##@@$†=~~¨
¨~~=†$@@## ##@@$†=~~¨
¨¨¨~~~~=†@ ======================================== @†=~~~~¨¨¨
¨~~=†@@### ###@@†=~~¨
¨~~=†$@@## MOUSE GIRL LIKES SHOES ##@@$†=~~¨
¨~~=†$$@@# #@@$$†=~~¨
¨~~=†$@@@# = = = = #@@@$†=~~¨
¨¨¨~~†$$@# #@$$†~~¨¨¨
¨~~=†$@### IN THIS DREAM I WAS A GIRL OF MAYBE ###@$†=~~¨
¨~~=†$@@## SIXTEEN YEARS, TOGETHER WITH MY DAD IN ##@@$†=~~¨
¨¨¨~~=$$@@ A HUGE BATH HOUSE / SPA / HOTEL / @@$$=~~¨¨¨
¨~~=†$@@## SHOPPING CENTRE. DAD WAS CONSTATLY ##@@$†=~~¨
¨¨~~~=$$$@ POINTING OUT HOT GIRLS TO ME. "YOU SEE @$$$=~~~¨¨
¨~~=†$@@## THAT BLACK-HAIRED THING DISSAPEARING ##@@$†=~~¨
¨~~=†$@@## BEHIND THE CLOTHES RACK? OOF!" HE'D ##@@$†=~~¨
¨~~=†$@@## SAY. HE WAS ALWAYS VERY CREEPY ABOUT ##@@$†=~~¨
¨~~=†$@@## THIS, GOING FOR GIRLS MY AGE. ##@@$†=~~¨
¨¨~~~==††@ @††==~~~¨¨
¨~~=††††@@ 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 @††††~~¨¨¨
¨~~=†$@@## CLOSER. SHE LAUGHED AT ME AGAIN, AND ##@@$†=~~¨
¨~~=†$@@## SAID - ##@@$†=~~¨
¨¨¨¨~~=†@@ @@†=~~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨~††@@ = = = = @@††~¨¨¨¨¨
¨~~=†$@@## ##@@$†=~~¨
¨~~=†$@@@@ (HERE I AM AWAKENED BY THE MORNING CREW) @@@@$†=~~¨
¨~~=†@@### ###@@†=~~¨
¨~~=†$$$@# ======================================== #@$$$†=~~¨
¨~~=†$@@## ##@@$†=~~¨
¨~~=†$@@## ##@@$†=~~¨
¨~~=†@@### ###@@†=~~¨
¨¨¨¨¨~~=$@ @$=~~¨¨¨¨¨
¨~~=†$@@## ##@@$†=~~¨