@##@%**-^. .^-**%@##@
#@%%*--... ...--*%%@#
#@#@%**-^. .^-**%@#@#
@%%%***-^. .^-***%%%@
@%%%%**-^. .^-**%%%%@
@**-...... 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? .^-**%@##@
#@#@%**-^. .^-**%@#@#
#@#@%**-^. .^-**%@#@#
#@#@%**-^. .^-**%@#@#
#%*-...... ......-*%#
@*--...... ......--*@