...^==*%£# #£%*==^...
....^==*%£ £%*==^....
...^==*%£# #£%*==^...
..^==*%£## ##£%*==^..
.^==*%£### ###£%*==^.
..^==*%£## 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? #£%*==^...
....^==*%£ £%*==^....
...^==*%£# #£%*==^...
..^==*%£## ##£%*==^..
.^==*%£### ###£%*==^.
..^==*%£## ##£%*==^..