§*††--¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨--††*§
¶§*††--¨¨¨ ¨¨¨--††*§¶
#¶§*††--¨¨ ¨¨--††*§¶#
##¶§*††--¨ ¨--††*§¶##
#¶§*††--¨¨ ¨¨--††*§¶#
¶§*††--¨¨¨ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ¨¨¨--††*§¶
§*††--¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨--††*§
*††--¨¨¨¨¨ 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) ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨--
†--¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨--†
††--¨¨¨¨¨¨ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ¨¨¨¨¨¨--††
*††--¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨--††*
§*††--¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨--††*§
¶§*††--¨¨¨ ¨¨¨--††*§¶
#¶§*††--¨¨ ¨¨--††*§¶#
##¶§*††--¨ ¨--††*§¶##