,,,,,-«†%¤                                          ¤%†«-,,,,,
,,,,,,-«†%                                          %†«-,,,,,,
,,,,,-«†%¤                                          ¤%†«-,,,,,
,,,,-«†%¤&                                          &¤%†«-,,,,
,,,-«†%¤&¶                                          ¶&¤%†«-,,,
,,-«†%¤&¶# †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† #¶&¤%†«-,,
,-«†%¤&¶##                                          ##¶&¤%†«-,
,,-«†%¤&¶#          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) ¤%†«-,,,,,
,,,,,,-«†%                                          %†«-,,,,,,
,,,,,-«†%¤ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ¤%†«-,,,,,
,,,,-«†%¤&                                          &¤%†«-,,,,
,,,-«†%¤&¶                                          ¶&¤%†«-,,,
,,-«†%¤&¶#                                          #¶&¤%†«-,,
,-«†%¤&¶##                                          ##¶&¤%†«-,
,,-«†%¤&¶#                                          #¶&¤%†«-,,