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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? .....^~:§£
@£§:~^.... ....^~:§£@
¶@£§:~^... ...^~:§£@¶
@¶@£§:~^.. ..^~:§£@¶@
#@¶@£§:~^. .^~:§£@¶@#
@¶@£§:~^.. ..^~:§£@¶@