#@§$%==^.. ..^==%$§@#
##@§$%==^. .^==%$§@##
#@§$%==^.. ..^==%$§@#
@§$%==^... ...^==%$§@
§$%==^.... ....^==%$§
@§$%==^... winds esker ...^==%$§@
#@§$%==^.. ======================================== ..^==%$§@#
##@§$%==^. .^==%$§@##
#@§$%==^.. there was this place that for two years ..^==%$§@#
@§$%==^... i couldn't go to. regardless how much ...^==%$§@
§$%==^.... discussed with others, or pointed out ....^==%$§
@§$%==^... on maps, i could not think of it when ...^==%$§@
#@§$%==^.. alone. i would often travel past the ..^==%$§@#
##@§$%==^. fork, where a right turn would surely .^==%$§@##
#@§$%==^.. take me there, but even then, something ..^==%$§@#
@§$%==^... kept me away. ...^==%$§@
§$%==^.... ....^==%$§
@§$%==^... when i finally got there, after some ...^==%$§@
#@§$%==^.. heavy subconscious battle i must ..^==%$§@#
##@§$%==^. assume, the place was surreal. an .^==%$§@##
#@§$%==^.. esker, like a needle-thin rift out in ..^==%$§@#
@§$%==^... the lake, but ten meters high and ...^==%$§@
§$%==^.... adorned in birch, willow, bracken, and ....^==%$§
@§$%==^... blueberries. ...^==%$§@
#@§$%==^.. ..^==%$§@#
##@§$%==^. walking atop that spine, i came to .^==%$§@##
#@§$%==^.. notice the view to either side. there ..^==%$§@#
@§$%==^... should be shores, of course, but i ...^==%$§@
§$%==^.... didn't recognize them. first off, they ....^==%$§
@§$%==^... were much too close, as the lake should ...^==%$§@
#@§$%==^.. stretch for a hundred meters more on ..^==%$§@#
##@§$%==^. both sides. but now i felt i could .^==%$§@##
#@§$%==^.. almost reach out and touch them. and ..^==%$§@#
@§$%==^... then, when i realized which shores they ...^==%$§@
§$%==^.... were, i had to stop. ....^==%$§
@§$%==^... ...^==%$§@
#@§$%==^.. they were of the right lake. but this ..^==%$§@#
##@§$%==^. lake is large, fractured, and .^==%$§@##
#@§$%==^.. bipartite. like a pair of lungs carved ..^==%$§@#
@§$%==^... into the granite, and with no less than ...^==%$§@
§$%==^.... five communities anchored at various ....^==%$§
@§$%==^... points. and so, studying these ...^==%$§@
#@§$%==^.. impossibly close shores, i slowly ..^==%$§@#
##@§$%==^. understood them as belonging many miles .^==%$§@##
#@§$%==^.. away. ..^==%$§@#
@§$%==^... ...^==%$§@
§$%==^.... i examined the ridge, the treeline ....^==%$§
@§$%==^... above. was this what you saw opposite, ...^==%$§@
#@§$%==^.. from those other shores? i couldn't ..^==%$§@#
##@§$%==^. remember. .^==%$§@##
#@§$%==^.. ..^==%$§@#
@§$%==^... carrying forward, on the very tip of ...^==%$§@
§$%==^.... the esker, i found the ruins of some ....^==%$§
@§$%==^... old building. there were overgrown ...^==%$§@
#@§$%==^.. marble staircases, stone floors beneath ..^==%$§@#
##@§$%==^. the moss, and strange slabs inserted .^==%$§@##
#@§$%==^.. into the slope like dams against the ..^==%$§@#
@§$%==^... ground itself. ...^==%$§@
§$%==^.... ....^==%$§
@§$%==^... sitting there, i could see across the ...^==%$§@
#@§$%==^.. narrowed lake my entire path to where i ..^==%$§@#
##@§$%==^. sat: from the stairwell of my house, .^==%$§@##
#@§$%==^.. through the old woods behind the tile ..^==%$§@#
@§$%==^... factory, the bridge over route ...^==%$§@
§$%==^.... twenty three and then back under it, ....^==%$§
@§$%==^... through the fancy villas, over the ...^==%$§@
#@§$%==^.. fields, and then that right turn at the ..^==%$§@#
##@§$%==^. fork. .^==%$§@##
#@§$%==^.. ..^==%$§@#
@§$%==^... and then the stairs up on the ridge. ...^==%$§@
§$%==^.... thinking back, this was probably it. ....^==%$§
@§$%==^... hidden in a grove, there were stairs ...^==%$§@
#@§$%==^.. much like the ones i currently sat on, ..^==%$§@#
##@§$%==^. old and worn down, that lead you up .^==%$§@##
#@§$%==^.. onto the esker. the point of entry. had ..^==%$§@#
@§$%==^... i insted opted to walk the path at its ...^==%$§@
§$%==^.... foot, i'm sure my experience would've ....^==%$§
@§$%==^... been different indeed. ...^==%$§@
#@§$%==^.. ..^==%$§@#
##@§$%==^. ======================================== .^==%$§@##
#@§$%==^.. ..^==%$§@#
@§$%==^... on the lake, there were people in ...^==%$§@
§$%==^.... boats. i wondered, could they even see ....^==%$§
@§$%==^... me? if i shouted, would they turn to ...^==%$§@
#@§$%==^.. stare right through me? ..^==%$§@#
##@§$%==^. .^==%$§@##
#@§$%==^.. ..^==%$§@#
@§$%==^... ...^==%$§@
§$%==^.... ....^==%$§
@§$%==^... ...^==%$§@