,.~§$¤£@## ##@£¤$§~.,
,,,,..:§§¤ ¤§§:..,,,,
,.~:§$¤£@# #@£¤$§:~.,
,,,,,~§§$£ £$§§~,,,,,
,.~:§$¤@## ##@¤$§:~.,
,.~:§$¤£@# Winds esker #@£¤$§:~.,
,,,,~~§$¤£ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ £¤$§~~,,,,
,.~:::$¤£@ @£¤$:::~.,
,.~:§$$¤¤¤ There Was This Place That For Two Years ¤¤¤$$§:~.,
,.~:§$¤£@# I Couldn'T Go To. Regardless How Much #@£¤$§:~.,
,.~:§$¤£@@ Discussed With Others, Or Pointed Out @@£¤$§:~.,
,.~:§$¤£@@ On Maps, I Could Not Think Of It When @@£¤$§:~.,
,.~:§$¤£££ Alone. I Would Often Travel Past The £££¤$§:~.,
,.~:§$¤£@# Fork, Where A Right Turn Would Surely #@£¤$§:~.,
,,,,~::$$¤ Take Me There, But Even Then, Something ¤$$::~,,,,
,,,,.~§¤¤£ 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 ¤§§~~~.,,,
,,,,...:$£ Stare Right Through Me? £$:...,,,,
,.~:§$¤@## ##@¤$§:~.,
,.~~:::§§¤ ¤§§:::~~.,
,.~:§$¤££@ @££¤$§:~.,
,,,,,~§¤££ ££¤§~,,,,,
,,,~:::$¤¤ ¤¤$:::~,,,