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##£§&%=~~¨ ======================================== ¨~~=%&§£##
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£&&%~~¨¨¨¨ MOUSE GIRL LIKES SHOES ¨¨¨¨~~%&&£
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§%~¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ 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 - ¨~~=%&§§§§
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§%%%~~~¨¨¨ = = = = ¨¨¨~~~%%%§
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£&=~¨¨¨¨¨¨ (HERE I AM AWAKENED BY THE MORNING CREW) ¨¨¨¨¨¨~=&£
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