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#@£#¤=^~^, 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? ,^~^=¤#@##
@#¤^^,,,,, ,,,,,^^¤#@
@££#¤=^~^, ,^~^=¤#££@
#@£#¤=^~^, ,^~^=¤#£@#
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##==~^,,,, ,,,,^~==##