...~~=^£¤# #¤£^=~~...
..~~=^£¤## ##¤£^=~~..
.~~=^£¤### ###¤£^=~~.
..~~=^£¤## ##¤£^=~~..
...~~=^£¤# #¤£^=~~...
....~~=^£¤ ======================================== ¤£^=~~....
.....~~=^£ £^=~~.....
......~~=^ 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) #¤£^=~~...
..~~=^£¤## ##¤£^=~~..
.~~=^£¤### ======================================== ###¤£^=~~.
..~~=^£¤## ##¤£^=~~..
...~~=^£¤# #¤£^=~~...
....~~=^£¤ ¤£^=~~....
.....~~=^£ £^=~~.....
......~~=^ ^=~~......