..=†*&&£##                                          ##£&&*†=..
..=†*&&£##                                          ##£&&*†=..
.....=†&&£                                          £&&†=.....
.=†*&&£###                                          ###£&&*†=.
.....=*&&&                                          &&&*=.....
......=*&& †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† &&*=......
.....=*&&&                                          &&&*=.....
..=†*&&###          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) ##£&&*†=..
..=††**&&&                                          &&&**††=..
..=†*&&£## †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ##£&&*†=..
..=†*&&£##                                          ##£&&*†=..
....==*&&#                                          #&&*==....
...=†***&#                                          #&***†=...
..=†*&&£££                                          £££&&*†=..
.....==*&£                                          £&*==.....