,,,,~«†*$#                                          #$*†«~,,,,
,,,,,~«†*$                                          $*†«~,,,,,
,,,,,,~«†*                                          *†«~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~«†                                          †«~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,~«                                          «~,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,~             $ dream palace $             ~,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,             ~ ----- ------ ~             ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,~             $ ..... ...... $             ~,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,~«             † ..... ...... †             «~,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~«†             ~ ..... ...... ~             †«~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~«†*             ~ ..... ...... ~             *†«~,,,,,,
,,,,,~«†*$             , ..... ...... ,             $*†«~,,,,,
,,,,~«†*$#                                          #$*†«~,,,,
,,,~«†*$##                                          ##$*†«~,,,
,,~«†*$### not actually a  palace. a cottage in the ###$*†«~,,
,~«†*$####   woods (temperate climate, rains every  ####$*†«~,
,,~«†*$### other  day,   springs  and  streams  and ###$*†«~,,
,,,~«†*$##   mysterious iron and stone artifacts,   ##$*†«~,,,
,,,,~«†*$#    birdland-ish eternal spring (late     #$*†«~,,,,
,,,,,~«†*$                 spring))                 $*†«~,,,,,
,,,,,,~«†*                                          *†«~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~«†                     «                    †«~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,~«                                          «~,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,~ i wake  up every morning at six am. it's ~,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, dark,  and  the stars are  out,  but the ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,~ sun  is  about to rise. its  a long day, ~,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,~« before it  fades  to  night  again,  and «~,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~«† then it stays  so until  i fall  asleep. †«~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~«†* it  doesn't  rise  unless  i've  had  my *†«~,,,,,,
,,,,,~«†*$                 dreams.                  $*†«~,,,,,
,,,,~«†*$#                                          #$*†«~,,,,
,,,~«†*$##                     *                    ##$*†«~,,,
,,~«†*$###                                          ###$*†«~,,
,~«†*$#### in  this cottage there's a lot of  radio ####$*†«~,
,,~«†*$###   equipment, sound stuff, synths, tape   ###$*†«~,,
,,,~«†*$## players. pen and paper, books,  cameras, ##$*†«~,,,
,,,,~«†*$# mirrors,  prisms,  and various things to #$*†«~,,,,
,,,,,~«†*$ do  art with. the  fridge is filled with $*†«~,,,,,
,,,,,,~«†* differet foods,  all of them intriguing, *†«~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~«†              slightly weird.             †«~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,~«                                          «~,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,~                    §                     ~,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,~ i have friends  -  there's a  cat, and a ~,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,~« dog   (who  is  ridicolously  large  and «~,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~«† wants to be the big spoon).  i listen to †«~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~«†* the shortwave radio, and transmit a  bit *†«~,,,,,,
,,,,,~«†*$ myself,  songs  and  poetry,  and  found $*†«~,,,,,
,,,,~«†*$# sounds from the forest. the  others tell #$*†«~,,,,
,,,~«†*$## of their  lives, play the guitar for me, ##$*†«~,,,
,,~«†*$### and  tell  tales of  the  old  world.  i ###$*†«~,,
,~«†*$####      consider them friends as well.      ####$*†«~,
,,~«†*$###                                          ###$*†«~,,
,,,~«†*$##                     #                    ##$*†«~,,,
,,,,~«†*$#                                          #$*†«~,,,,
,,,,,~«†*$ most  importantly, there's a  two square $*†«~,,,,,
,,,,,,~«†* meter  area  on  the floor  where i  can *†«~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~«† "save" things.  whatever i  put in  here †«~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,~« will  not be  affected  by  the  nightly «~,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,~   reset. everything else, however, is    ~,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,    completely reset overnight: synth     ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,~   patches removed, food uneaten, wounds  ~,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,~« healed, and  wherever  and  whenever i'd «~,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~«† fall  asleep  i'd  always  wake up fully †«~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~«†* rested  in  my  bed.  sometimes  there's *†«~,,,,,,
,,,,,~«†*$ accidents   where   i   lose  stuff   by $*†«~,,,,,
,,,,~«†*$# forgetting  to  put them in the  square. #$*†«~,,,,
,,,~«†*$##                                          ##$*†«~,,,
,,~«†*$###                     ,                    ###$*†«~,,
,~«†*$####                                          ####$*†«~,
,,~«†*$### at  night,   i  have  demi-lucid  dreams ###$*†«~,,
,,,~«†*$## where the spirits  of the forest  around ##$*†«~,,,
,,,,~«†*$# the cottage tries  to communicate. here, #$*†«~,,,,
,,,,,~«†*$ it's  not  endless  but connected  to  a $*†«~,,,,,
,,,,,,~«†* large  sprawling city,  where  my  radio *†«~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~«† friends live. we go  exploring  together †«~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,~« - things are  deep and dark - but unlike «~,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,~ me, they never remember  during the day. ~,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, this  is  a  mystery we  often  discuss. ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,~                                          ~,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,~«                                          «~,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~«†                                          †«~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~«†*                                          *†«~,,,,,,
,,,,,~«†*$                                          $*†«~,,,,,
,,,,~«†*$#                                          #$*†«~,,,,