#@##%%\~., ,.~\%%##@#
#@##%%\~., ,.~\%%##@#
#@##%%\~., ,.~\%%##@#
####%%\~., ,.~\%%####
@##%%%\~., ,.~\%%%##@
#@##%%\~., 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? ,.~\%%####
####%%\~., ,.~\%%####
#%\~,,,,,, ,,,,,,~\%#
#@##%%\~., ,.~\%%##@#
#%\~.,,,,, ,,,,,.~\%#
#@##%%\~., ,.~\%%##@#