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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 - ¨¨¨..\%%££
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£*%\\««.¨¨ (HERE I AM AWAKENED BY THE MORNING CREW) ¨¨.««\\%*£
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