###§§*†«,¨ ¨,«†*§§###
###§§*†«,¨ ¨,«†*§§###
###§§*†«,¨ ¨,«†*§§###
####§*†«,¨ ¨,«†*§####
####§*†«,¨ ¨,«†*§####
§*«¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨«*§
###§§*†«,¨ ¨,«†*§§###
#§††††««,¨ 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) ¨,«†*§§###
###§§*†«,¨ ¨,«†*§§###
###§§*†«,¨ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ¨,«†*§§###
###§§*†«,¨ ¨,«†*§§###
#§*†«¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨«†*§#
###§§*†«,¨ ¨,«†*§§###
###§§*†«,¨ ¨,«†*§§###
§§**†††«,¨ ¨,«†††**§§