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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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