,,,,,,,,,- -,,,,,,,,,
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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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