,~~^*$¤### ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^*$¤### ###¤$*^~~,
,,,,~~*¤## ##¤*~~,,,,
,~~^*$¤### ###¤$*^~~,
,,,,~~^^$¤ ¤$^^~~,,,,
,~~^*$¤### ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^*$$$## ##$$$*^~~,
,~~^*$¤### MOUSE GIRL LIKES SHOES ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^*$¤### ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^*$¤### ^ ^ ^ ^ ###¤$*^~~,
,,,~~*$$## ##$$*~~,,,
,~~^*$¤### IN THIS DREAM I WAS A GIRL OF MAYBE ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^*$¤### SIXTEEN YEARS, TOGETHER WITH MY DAD IN ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^*$¤### A HUGE BATH HOUSE / SPA / HOTEL / ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^^*$¤¤¤ SHOPPING CENTRE. DAD WAS CONSTATLY ¤¤¤$*^^~~,
,~~^*$¤### POINTING OUT HOT GIRLS TO ME. "YOU SEE ###¤$*^~~,
,,,~~~^$$# THAT BLACK-HAIRED THING DISSAPEARING #$$^~~~,,,
,~~^*$¤### BEHIND THE CLOTHES RACK? OOF!" HE'D ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^*$¤### SAY. HE WAS ALWAYS VERY CREEPY ABOUT ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^*$¤### THIS, GOING FOR GIRLS MY AGE. ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^*$¤### ###¤$*^~~,
,,,,~~^*$¤ THIS NIGHT HE HAD JUST TRIED TO WOO A ¤$*^~~,,,,
,,,,~*$¤## GIRL HE CALLED A "MOUSE" BY BUYING HER ##¤$*~,,,,
,,,~~***$¤ SHOES, BUT SHE HAD ACCEPTED THEM ONLY ¤$***~~,,,
,~~^*$¤### TO RUN AWAY IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARD. DAD ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^*$¤### WAS A BIT BUMMED BUT DROPPED IT ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^*$$$$¤ QUICKLY. I SAID GOODNIGHT TO HIM AND ¤$$$$*^~~,
,~~~~^$¤¤# WENT LOOKING FOR THE MOUSE. #¤¤$^~~~~,
,,,,,~~^$# #$^~~,,,,,
,~~^*$¤### THE BUILDING WAS ENORMOUS AND MAZELIKE. ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^*$¤### WALLS, FLOORS AND PILLARS WERE SET IN ###¤$*^~~,
,,,,,~~^*¤ GREEN MARBLE. THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE RAN ¤*^~~,,,,,
,~~^*$¤### A MAIN BOULEVARD, WIDE AS A STREET, ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^*$¤### FRAMED WITH CLAY VASES DARK AS OBSIDIAN ###¤$*^~~,
,,~~~**¤¤¤ AND TALLER THAN A PERSON. IN EACH VASE ¤¤¤**~~~,,
,~~^*$¤### WAS PLACED UPRIGHT A LEAF FROM A PALM ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^*$¤### TREE OR GIANT FERN. THE BOULEVARD WAS ###¤$*^~~,
,,,,,~^^*¤ DIMLY LIT, WHICH ALLOWED THE POOLS THAT ¤*^^~,,,,,
,~~^*$#### WERE GENEROUSLY SPRINKLED THROUGHOUT ####$*^~~,
,,,,~~^*¤# EACH FLOOR WOULD REFLECT SUGGESTIVE #¤*^~~,,,,
,~~^*$#### PATTERNS ON THE MARBLE. ####$*^~~,
,,,,~^^*¤¤ ¤¤*^^~,,,,
,~~~~^$¤## ^ ^ ^ ^ ##¤$^~~~~,
,~~^**$¤¤# #¤¤$**^~~,
,,,~~~*$## FOLLOWING THE BOULEVARD, TWO FLOORS UP ##$*~~~,,,
,,,~~~~^*¤ I FOUND HER CRYING BEHIND TWO FERN ¤*^~~~~,,,
,~~~~^*$## VASES. SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL, AND AS I ##$*^~~~~,
,~~^*$¤### APPROACHED, SHE LOOKED UP AND SNIVELED. ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^*$¤### IN THE NEAREST VASE SHE HAD STUFFED ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^*¤#### BOTH THE SHOES. ####¤*^~~,
,~~*$¤#### ####¤$*~~,
,~~^*$#### I TOLD HER TO FOLLOW, BUT SHE DIDN'T ####$*^~~,
,~~^*$¤¤¤# MOVE OR SPEAK. SO INSTEAD I SAID TO #¤¤¤$*^~~,
,,,,~^**$¤ STAY THERE, AND RAN TO GET HER A BETTER ¤$**^~,,,,
,~~^*$¤### PAIR OF SHOES THAT SHE WOULD ACTUALLY ###¤$*^~~,
,,~~^*$$¤# 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) #¤$$$*^~~,
,,,,,~^$$¤ ¤$$^~,,,,,
,,,,~~~*$# ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ #$*~~~,,,,
,~^*$¤#### ####¤$*^~,
,,,,,,~^$# #$^~,,,,,,
,,,,,~^$## ##$^~,,,,,
,~~^*$¤### ###¤$*^~~,
,~~^*$¤### ###¤$*^~~,