.~-†%$¤£@#                                          #@£¤$%†-~.
.~-†%$¤£@#                                          #@£¤$%†-~.
.~-†%$¤£@#                                          #@£¤$%†-~.
.~-†%$¤£@@                                          @@£¤$%†-~.
...---%%$¤                                          ¤$%%---...
.~-†%$¤¤¤¤ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ¤¤¤¤$%†-~.
.~-†%$¤£##                                          ##£¤$%†-~.
.~-†%$¤£@#          MOUSE GIRL LIKES SHOES          #@£¤$%†-~.
.~-†%$¤£@#                                          #@£¤$%†-~.
.~-†%$¤@##                †  †  †  †                ##@¤$%†-~.
.~-†%$¤£@#                                          #@£¤$%†-~.
......-†%¤ 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 @¤¤%%††-~.
.~-†%$£@## THE  WINDOWS  OF   THE   HIGHER  FLOORS. ##@£$%†-~.
.~-†%$¤£@#                                          #@£¤$%†-~.
.~-†%$¤£@# SHE LAY DOWN IN A PATCH OF GRASS. I  SAT #@£¤$%†-~.
.~-†%$¤£@# DOWN  ON  MY  KNEES,  AND  THEN  CRAWLED #@£¤$%†-~.
.~-†%$¤£## CLOSER.  SHE LAUGHED  AT ME  AGAIN,  AND ##£¤$%†-~.
.~-†%$¤£@#                  SAID -                  #@£¤$%†-~.
.~~-†%$¤¤£                                          £¤¤$%†-~~.
....~††%%¤                †  †  †  †                ¤%%††~....
....-†%¤££                                          ££¤%†-....
......-%$¤ (HERE I AM AWAKENED BY THE MORNING CREW) ¤$%-......
..~~~†††$£                                          £$†††~~~..
...-----%¤ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ¤%-----...
.~-†%$¤£@#                                          #@£¤$%†-~.
.~-†%$$¤¤@                                          @¤¤$$%†-~.
.~-†%$¤£@#                                          #@£¤$%†-~.
.~-†%$¤£@#                                          #@£¤$%†-~.
......-%$£                                          £$%-......