####§††«~.                                          .~«††§####
####§††«~.                                          .~«††§####
####§††«~.                                          .~«††§####
####§††«~.                                          .~«††§####
####§††«~.                                          .~«††§####
#####§††«.                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?          .~««««††§#
##§†~.....                                          .....~†§##
#§††~.....                                          .....~††§#
###§†~....                                          ....~†§###
####§††«~.                                          .~«††§####
#†«.......                                          .......«†#