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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. #§£%^~~¨¨¨
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¨~~^%£§### ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ###§£%^~~¨
¨¨~~^%£§## ##§£%^~~¨¨
¨¨¨~~^%£§# 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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