..#....##. ..####....
#...##.... #..##..###
..#....### ........##
....##..## #######...
###......# ######..##
##..####.. 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? ##########
########## ##########
########## ##########
########## ##########
########## ##########
########## ##########