¨¨¨««†%### ###%†««¨¨¨
¨~«\†%#### ####%†\«~¨
¨~«\†%#### ####%†\«~¨
¨~«\†%#### ####%†\«~¨
¨~«\\†††%# #%†††\\«~¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨~\%# \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ #%\~¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨~««†††%# #%†††««~¨¨
¨~«\†%#### 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) ####%†\«~¨
¨~«\†%#### ####%†\«~¨
¨¨¨¨¨~\%%# \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ #%%\~¨¨¨¨¨
¨~«\†%#### ####%†\«~¨
¨~«\†%#### ####%†\«~¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨«\†# #†\«¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨~«\††%%## ##%%††\«~¨
¨~~~«††### ###††«~~~¨