@¤%~.¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨.~%¤@
¤%~.¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨.~%¤
%~.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.~%
¤%~.¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨.~%¤
@¤%~.¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨.~%¤@
#@¤%~.¨¨¨¨ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ ¨¨¨¨.~%¤@#
@#@¤%~.¨¨¨ ¨¨¨.~%¤@#@
#@#@¤%~.¨¨ 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) ¨.~%¤@#@##
#@#@¤%~.¨¨ ¨¨.~%¤@#@#
@#@¤%~.¨¨¨ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ ¨¨¨.~%¤@#@
#@¤%~.¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨.~%¤@#
@¤%~.¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨.~%¤@
¤%~.¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨.~%¤
%~.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.~%
¤%~.¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨.~%¤