@£%†»¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨»†%£@
#@@£%†/»~¨ ¨~»/†%£@@#
@£†††»~¨¨¨ ¨¨¨~»†††£@
#@@£%†/»~¨ ¨~»/†%£@@#
£†//»¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨»//†£
@££%†»¨¨¨¨ //////////////////////////////////////// ¨¨¨¨»†%££@
@£††»~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~»††£@
@££†»~¨¨¨¨ 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) ¨¨¨¨¨~~/%@
##@@%†/»~¨ ¨~»/†%@@##
£%†††»»»~¨ //////////////////////////////////////// ¨~»»»†††%£
##@@£†/»~¨ ¨~»/†£@@##
#@@£%†/»~¨ ¨~»/†%£@@#
#@@£%†/»~¨ ¨~»/†%£@@#
@@%/~~~¨¨¨ ¨¨¨~~~/%@@
@@@£%†/»~¨ ¨~»/†%£@@@