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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 ¨¨^^^***#£
£###*$*~^¨ OFF, BUT WE COULD STILL SEE OUR WAY ¨^~*$*###£
###$*~¨¨¨¨ AROUND BY THE LIGHT SHINING DOWN FROM ¨¨¨¨~*$###
£#$~~¨¨¨¨¨ THE WINDOWS OF THE HIGHER FLOORS. ¨¨¨¨¨~~$#£
##£#*$*~^¨ ¨^~*$*#£##
#£*$~~^¨¨¨ SHE LAY DOWN IN A PATCH OF GRASS. I SAT ¨¨¨^~~$*£#
££##*$*~^¨ DOWN ON MY KNEES, AND THEN CRAWLED ¨^~*$*##££
##£#*$*~^¨ CLOSER. SHE LAUGHED AT ME AGAIN, AND ¨^~*$*#£##
##£#*$*~^¨ SAID - ¨^~*$*#£##
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###**$*~^¨ * * * * ¨^~*$**###
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£##*$*^¨¨¨ (HERE I AM AWAKENED BY THE MORNING CREW) ¨¨¨^*$*##£
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