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##£¤£§:~:¨ 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. ¨:~:§£¤££#
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##£¤£§:~:¨ 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. ¨:~:§£¤£##
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##£¤£§:~:¨ 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 ¨:~:§£¤£££
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##£¤£§:~:¨ I FOUND HER CRYING BEHIND TWO FERN ¨:~:§£¤£##
££££§::¨¨¨ VASES. SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL, AND AS I ¨¨¨::§££££
¤¤§~:¨¨¨¨¨ APPROACHED, SHE LOOKED UP AND SNIVELED. ¨¨¨¨¨:~§¤¤
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¤¤££§§:~:¨ BOTH THE SHOES. ¨:~:§§££¤¤
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##£¤£§:~:¨ 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. ¨:~:§£¤£##
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###£¤£§~:¨ 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 ¨:~:§£¤£##
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##£¤£§:~:¨ SHE LAY DOWN IN A PATCH OF GRASS. I SAT ¨:~:§£¤£##
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##£¤£§:~:¨ CLOSER. SHE LAUGHED AT ME AGAIN, AND ¨:~:§£¤£##
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