@&&†««¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨««†&&@
&$$$**,,¨¨ ¨¨,,**$$$&
##@&$†*«,¨ ¨,«*†$&@##
##@&$†*«,¨ ¨,«*†$&@##
@@&&$†*«,¨ ¨,«*†$&&@@
##@&$†*«,¨ **************************************** ¨,«*†$&@##
#@@&$†*«,¨ ¨,«*†$&@@#
&$†**«,¨¨¨ MOUSE GIRL LIKES SHOES ¨¨¨,«**†$&
@$†«¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨«†$@
##@&$†*«,¨ * * * * ¨,«*†$&@##
##@&$†*«,¨ ¨,«*†$&@##
@@@&$†*«,¨ IN THIS DREAM I WAS A GIRL OF MAYBE ¨,«*†$&@@@
##@&$†*«,¨ SIXTEEN YEARS, TOGETHER WITH MY DAD IN ¨,«*†$&@##
##@&$†*«,¨ A HUGE BATH HOUSE / SPA / HOTEL / ¨,«*†$&@##
#@$†**«,¨¨ SHOPPING CENTRE. DAD WAS CONSTATLY ¨¨,«**†$@#
#@$*«««¨¨¨ POINTING OUT HOT GIRLS TO ME. "YOU SEE ¨¨¨«««*$@#
##@&$†*«,¨ THAT BLACK-HAIRED THING DISSAPEARING ¨,«*†$&@##
###@&$†*,¨ BEHIND THE CLOTHES RACK? OOF!" HE'D ¨,*†$&@###
###@$†*«,¨ SAY. HE WAS ALWAYS VERY CREEPY ABOUT ¨,«*†$@###
##@&$†*«,¨ THIS, GOING FOR GIRLS MY AGE. ¨,«*†$&@##
@@$†«¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨«†$@@
##@&$†*«,¨ THIS NIGHT HE HAD JUST TRIED TO WOO A ¨,«*†$&@##
###@&$†*«, GIRL HE CALLED A "MOUSE" BY BUYING HER ,«*†$&@###
#@&$††*«,¨ SHOES, BUT SHE HAD ACCEPTED THEM ONLY ¨,«*††$&@#
&$$**«¨¨¨¨ TO RUN AWAY IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARD. DAD ¨¨¨¨«**$$&
##@&$†*«,¨ WAS A BIT BUMMED BUT DROPPED IT ¨,«*†$&@##
##@&$†*«,¨ QUICKLY. I SAID GOODNIGHT TO HIM AND ¨,«*†$&@##
&&$$$†*«,¨ WENT LOOKING FOR THE MOUSE. ¨,«*†$$$&&
##@&$†*«,¨ ¨,«*†$&@##
&†«¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ 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 ¨,«*†&@###
##@&$†*«,¨ SAID - ¨,«*†$&@##
@@$†««¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨««†$@@
##@&$†*«,¨ * * * * ¨,«*†$&@##
@$†«««««,¨ ¨,«««««†$@
&$*,¨¨¨¨¨¨ (HERE I AM AWAKENED BY THE MORNING CREW) ¨¨¨¨¨¨,*$&
&†††**,,¨¨ ¨¨,,**†††&
###&$†*«,¨ **************************************** ¨,«*†$&###
#@&†««¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨««†&@#
##@&$†*«,¨ ¨,«*†$&@##
#@@&$†*«,¨ ¨,«*†$&@@#
#@$*,¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨,*$@#
##@&$†*«,¨ ¨,«*†$&@##