#.....#... #....#.#..
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..#.....#. ..#......#
#..#.....# ...#......
.#..#..... ....#.....
..#..#.... †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† .....#....
...#..#... ......#...
....#..#.. 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) ...###....
.#.......# #..#.##...
..#....... †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ##...###..
...#...... ###..#.##.
....#..... #.##...###
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