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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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