,,«†%@@£## ##£@@%†«,,
,,,«†%@@£# #£@@%†«,,,
,,,,«†%@@£ £@@%†«,,,,
,,,,,«†%@@ @@%†«,,,,,
,,,,,,«†%@ @%†«,,,,,,
,,,,,,,«†% †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† %†«,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,«† †«,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,«†% 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) @%†«,,,,,,
,,,,,«†%@@ @@%†«,,,,,
,,,,«†%@@£ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† £@@%†«,,,,
,,,«†%@@£# #£@@%†«,,,
,,«†%@@£## ##£@@%†«,,
,,,«†%@@£# #£@@%†«,,,
,,,,«†%@@£ £@@%†«,,,,
,,,,,«†%@@ @@%†«,,,,,