†=:¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨:=†
^†=:¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨:=†^
@^†=:¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨:=†^@
&@^†=:¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨:=†^@&
@&@^†=:¨¨¨ ¨¨¨:=†^@&@
@@&@^†=:¨¨ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ¨¨:=†^@&@@
#@@&@^†=:¨ ¨:=†^@&@@#
@@&@^†=:¨¨ 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) ¨¨¨¨¨:=†^@
^†=:¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨:=†^
†=:¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨:=†
=:¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨:=
†=:¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨:=†
^†=:¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨:=†^
@^†=:¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨:=†^@
&@^†=:¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨:=†^@&