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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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