#&&\««,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,««\&&#
###&&§\«,¨ ¨,«\§&&###
###&&§\«,¨ ¨,«\§&&###
###&&§\«,¨ ¨,«\§&&###
####&&\«,¨ ¨,«\&&####
&&\,,¨¨¨¨¨ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ ¨¨¨¨¨,,\&&
###&&§\«,¨ ¨,«\§&&###
#&§§\\,¨¨¨ 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) ¨,«\§&&###
##&&&§\«,¨ ¨,«\§&&&##
#&§§§««¨¨¨ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ ¨¨¨««§§§&#
&&&&&§\«,¨ ¨,«\§&&&&&
###&&§\«,¨ ¨,«\§&&###
###&&§\«,¨ ¨,«\§&&###
&&&§§§\«,¨ ¨,«\§§§&&&
###&&§\«,¨ ¨,«\§&&###