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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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