##@##*†»., ,.»†*##@##
@#*††»,,,, ,,,,»††*#@
##¤¤†.,,,, ,,,,.†¤¤##
###*»».,,, ,,,.»»*###
#@##¤*†»., ,.»†*¤##@#
#@##¤*†»., †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ,.»†*¤##@#
####¤*†»., ,.»†*¤####
##@#¤*†»., 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) ,.»†**¤###
#*†».,,,,, ,,,,,.»†*#
##@##¤*†». †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† .»†*¤##@##
##¤*†»»,,, ,,,»»†*¤##
##*††».,,, ,,,.»††*##
#@##¤*†»., ,.»†*¤##@#
#@##¤*†»., ,.»†*¤##@#
#¤*»»,,,,, ,,,,,»»*¤#