###£§*†~~¨                                          ¨~~†*§£###
£§*~~~¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨~~~*§£
###£§*†~~¨                                          ¨~~†*§£###
##§†~~¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨~~†§##
#£*~¨¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨¨~*£#
#£**††~¨¨¨                winds esker               ¨¨¨~††**£#
££££§*†~~¨ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¨~~†*§££££
###£§*†~~¨                                          ¨~~†*§£###
£*~¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ there was this  place that for two years ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨~*£
##£*††~~~¨ i  couldn't go  to. regardless  how much ¨~~~††*£##
###£§*†~~¨ discussed with others,  or  pointed  out ¨~~†*§£###
£§†~¨¨¨¨¨¨ on  maps, i could  not  think of it when ¨¨¨¨¨¨~†§£
###£§*†~~¨ alone.  i would  often  travel past  the ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨ fork,  where a right  turn would  surely ¨~~†*§£###
#£***~~¨¨¨ take me there, but even then,  something ¨¨¨~~***£#
##§**~¨¨¨¨               kept me away.              ¨¨¨¨~**§##
#§†~¨¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨¨~†§#
#£§††~¨¨¨¨ when  i  finally got  there,  after some ¨¨¨¨~††§£#
£§§†~¨¨¨¨¨     heavy subconscious battle i must     ¨¨¨¨¨~†§§£
###£§*†~~¨ assume,   the  place  was  surreal.   an ¨~~†*§£###
£*~¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ esker, like a  needle-thin rift  out  in ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨~*£
###£§*†~~¨ the  lake,  but  ten   meters  high  and ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨ adorned  in birch, willow,  bracken, and ¨~~†*§£###
££**†~¨¨¨¨               blueberries.               ¨¨¨¨~†**££
##§**†~~¨¨                                          ¨¨~~†**§##
###£§*†~~¨ walking  atop  that  spine,  i  came  to ¨~~†*§£###
#£*†~~~¨¨¨ notice  the view  to  either side. there ¨¨¨~~~†*£#
##£§*†~¨¨¨ should  be  shores,  of  course,  but  i ¨¨¨~†*§£##
###£§*†~~¨ didn't recognize  them. first off,  they ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨ were much too  close, as the lake should ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨ stretch  for a  hundred  meters more  on ¨~~†*§£###
#£§*~¨¨¨¨¨ both  sides.  but  now  i  felt  i could ¨¨¨¨¨~*§£#
#£****†~~¨ almost  reach out  and  touch them.  and ¨~~†****£#
##§§§*†~~¨ then, when i realized  which shores they ¨~~†*§§§##
###£§*†~~¨           were, i had to stop.           ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨                                          ¨~~†*§£###
£*†††~¨¨¨¨ they  were of  the right  lake. but this ¨¨¨¨~†††*£
£*~~¨¨¨¨¨¨      lake is large, fractured, and       ¨¨¨¨¨¨~~*£
#§*~~¨¨¨¨¨ bipartite. like  a pair  of lungs carved ¨¨¨¨¨~~*§#
###£§*†~~¨ into the granite, and  with no less than ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨   five communities anchored at various   ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨      points. and so, studying these      ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨     impossibly close shores, i slowly    ¨~~†*§£###
#§*~~¨¨¨¨¨ understood them as belonging  many miles ¨¨¨¨¨~~*§#
###£§*†~~¨                  away.                   ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨                                          ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨ i   examined  the  ridge,  the  treeline ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨ above. was  this what you saw  opposite, ¨~~†*§£###
££**††~~~¨ from  those  other  shores?  i  couldn't ¨~~~††**££
#£§§*~¨¨¨¨                remember.                 ¨¨¨¨~*§§£#
#§*~~¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨~~*§#
###£§*†~~¨ carrying forward,  on  the  very  tip of ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨ the  esker,  i found the ruins  of  some ¨~~†*§£###
##§§**†~~¨    old building. there were overgrown    ¨~~†**§§##
###£§*†~~¨  marble staircases, stone floors beneath ¨~~†*§£###
####£§*†~¨ the  moss, and  strange  slabs  inserted ¨~†*§£####
#££**††~~¨ into the  slope  like dams  against  the ¨~~††**££#
#§***~¨¨¨¨              ground itself.              ¨¨¨¨~***§#
###£§*†~~¨                                          ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨ sitting  there, i  could see across  the ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨ narrowed lake  my entire path to where i ¨~~†*§£###
#§**~~~~¨¨ sat: from  the  stairwell of  my  house, ¨¨~~~~**§#
###£§*†~~¨ through the old woods  behind  the  tile ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨      factory, the bridge over route      ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨ twenty three  and  then back  under  it, ¨~~†*§£###
£§§††~¨¨¨¨ through  the  fancy  villas,   over  the ¨¨¨¨~††§§£
£**~¨¨¨¨¨¨ fields, and then that right  turn at the ¨¨¨¨¨¨~**£
###£§*†~~¨                   fork.                  ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨                                          ¨~~†*§£###
£§§§†~¨¨¨¨ and then  the  stairs  up  on the ridge. ¨¨¨¨~†§§§£
£****†~~~¨ thinking  back, this  was  probably  it. ¨~~~†****£
#£§§*†~¨¨¨ hidden  in a grove,  there  were  stairs ¨¨¨~†*§§£#
###£§*†~~¨ much like  the ones i  currently sat on, ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨ old  and  worn  down,  that lead  you up ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨ onto the esker. the point of entry.  had ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨ i insted  opted to walk the path at  its ¨~~†*§£###
####£§*~~¨ foot,  i'm sure my  experience  would've ¨~~*§£####
###£§*†~~¨          been different indeed.          ¨~~†*§£###
£*†~~~~~¨¨                                          ¨¨~~~~~†*£
###£§*†~~¨ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨                                          ¨~~†*§£###
##££§*†~~¨ on  the  lake,  there   were  people  in ¨~~†*§££##
###£§*†~~¨ boats. i  wondered, could they  even see ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨ me?  if  i shouted,  would they turn  to ¨~~†*§£###
###£§*†~~¨          stare right through me?         ¨~~†*§£###
£§*~~¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨~~*§£
###£§*†~~¨                                          ¨~~†*§£###
##£§†††~~¨                                          ¨~~†††§£##
£*†~¨¨¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨¨¨~†*£
#££§§*†~~¨                                          ¨~~†*§§££#