....--;§%¤ ¤%§;--....
.....--;§% %§;--.....
......--;§ §;--......
.......--; ;--.......
......--;§ §;--......
.....--;§% 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? ¤%§;--....
.....--;§% %§;--.....
......--;§ §;--......
.......--; ;--.......
......--;§ §;--......
.....--;§% %§;--.....