###&%$;-.. ..-;$%##
##%;;;.... ....;;;%##
###&%$;-.. ..-;$%##
#&%$;-.... ....-;$%
&$-....... .......-$&
###&%$;-.. winds esker ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. ---------------------------------------- ..-;$%##
#%;;--.... ....--;;%#
#&%%$-.... there was this place that for two years ....-$%%
###&%$;-.. i couldn't go to. regardless how much ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. discussed with others, or pointed out ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. on maps, i could not think of it when ..-;$%##
#&%$$;.... alone. i would often travel past the ....;$$%
####&%$;-. fork, where a right turn would surely .-;$%###
##%%%$;-.. take me there, but even then, something ..-;$%%%##
###&%$;-.. kept me away. ..-;$%##
##&&%$;-.. ..-;$%&#
##&%$;;-.. when i finally got there, after some ..-;;$%#
###&%$;-.. heavy subconscious battle i must ..-;$%##
#&&$-..... assume, the place was surreal. an .....-$&
&&&%$$;-.. esker, like a needle-thin rift out in ..-;$$%&&&
&%$$$-.... the lake, but ten meters high and ....-$$$%&
####&%$-.. adorned in birch, willow, bracken, and ..-$%###
###&%$;-.. blueberries. ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. walking atop that spine, i came to ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. notice the view to either side. there ..-;$%##
##&$--.... should be shores, of course, but i ....--$#
&&$;;;.... didn't recognize them. first off, they ....;;;$&&
###&%$;-.. were much too close, as the lake should ..-;$%##
#&$-...... stretch for a hundred meters more on ......-$
###&%$;-.. both sides. but now i felt i could ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. almost reach out and touch them. and ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. then, when i realized which shores they ..-;$%##
##&$-..... were, i had to stop. .....-$#
##&&%$;-.. ..-;$%&#
&&&$$$;-.. they were of the right lake. but this ..-;$$$&&&
#&%$;..... lake is large, fractured, and .....;$%
&&&%$;.... bipartite. like a pair of lungs carved ....;$%&&&
###&%$;-.. into the granite, and with no less than ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. five communities anchored at various ..-;$%##
#&$-...... points. and so, studying these ......-$
#&%;;-.... 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. ....;$$&
###&%$;-.. thinking back, this was probably it. ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. hidden in a grove, there were stairs ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. much like the ones i currently sat on, ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. old and worn down, that lead you up ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. onto the esker. the point of entry. had ..-;$%##
&%%;...... i insted opted to walk the path at its ......;%%&
####%$;-.. foot, i'm sure my experience would've ..-;$%####
&%%%;..... been different indeed. .....;%%%&
###&%$;-.. ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. ---------------------------------------- ..-;$%##
##&$$-.... ....-$$#
&&%;;;.... on the lake, there were people in ....;;;%&&
###&%$;-.. boats. i wondered, could they even see ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. me? if i shouted, would they turn to ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. stare right through me? ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. ..-;$%##
#&$$;-.... ....-;$$
###&%$;-.. ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. ..-;$%##
###&%$;-.. ..-;$%##