¨¨¨¨,,,*£@ @£*,,,¨¨¨¨
¨,«*†£@@@# #@@@£†*«,¨
¨,«*†@@@## ##@@@†*«,¨
¨,«*†£@@## ##@@£†*«,¨
¨,«*†£@@## ##@@£†*«,¨
¨,«*†£@@@# **************************************** #@@@£†*«,¨
¨,«*†£@@@@ @@@@£†*«,¨
¨,«*†£@@@# 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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