,,,,,,,,:~ ~:,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,:~^ ^~:,,,,,,,
,,,,,,:~^* *^~:,,,,,,
,,,,,:~^*¤ ¤*^~:,,,,,
,,,,:~^*¤¤ ¤¤*^~:,,,,
,,,:~^*¤¤@ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ @¤¤*^~:,,,
,,:~^*¤¤@# #@¤¤*^~:,,
,:~^*¤¤@## 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) ~:,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,:~^ ^~:,,,,,,,
,,,,,,:~^* ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ *^~:,,,,,,
,,,,,:~^*¤ ¤*^~:,,,,,
,,,,:~^*¤¤ ¤¤*^~:,,,,
,,,:~^*¤¤@ @¤¤*^~:,,,
,,:~^*¤¤@# #@¤¤*^~:,,
,:~^*¤¤@## ##@¤¤*^~:,