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####§*†«.¨ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ¨.«†*§####
#£§*«..¨¨¨ ¨¨¨..«*§£#
##£#§*†«.¨ 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) ¨¨¨¨..«†*#
##£#§*†«.¨ ¨.«†*§#£##
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