###&*%*~.¨ ¨.~*%*&###
£*%%~¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨~%%*£
##£&*%*~.¨ ¨.~*%*&£##
#££&*%*~.¨ ¨.~*%*&££#
#£&&*%*~.¨ ¨.~*%*&&£#
###£*%*~.¨ **************************************** ¨.~*%*£###
££&**.¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨.**&££
##£&*%*~.¨ 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) ¨.~*%*&£##
##£&*%*~.¨ ¨.~*%*&£##
##£&*%*~.¨ **************************************** ¨.~*%*&£##
###&*%*~.¨ ¨.~*%*&###
##£&*%*~.¨ ¨.~*%*&£##
£&***~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~***&£
##£&*%*~.¨ ¨.~*%*&£##
#&**.¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨.**&#