#¶¶§%*†=,, ,,=†*%§¶¶#
###¶§%*†=, ,=†*%§¶###
¶%***=,,,, ,,,,=***%¶
#¶%*=,,,,, ,,,,,=*%¶#
¶§*††,,,,, ,,,,,††*§¶
##¶§%*†=,, †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ,,=†*%§¶##
§§%††=,,,, ,,,,=††%§§
#¶%†,,,,,, 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) ,,,,,,=†*§
##¶§%*†=,, ,,=†*%§¶##
##¶§%*†=,, †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ,,=†*%§¶##
##¶§%*†=,, ,,=†*%§¶##
##¶§%*†=,, ,,=†*%§¶##
¶§§*==,,,, ,,,,==*§§¶
§%††=,,,,, ,,,,,=††%§
§*=,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,=*§