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@@£*;~¨¨¨¨ 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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##@£%*;~~¨ ; ; ; ; ¨~~;*%£@##
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£*~¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ (HERE I AM AWAKENED BY THE MORNING CREW) ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨~*£
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