###@&@%^,¨ ¨,^%@&@###
##@&@%^,¨¨ ¨¨,^%@&@##
#@&@%^,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,^%@&@#
@&@%^,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,^%@&@
&@%^,¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨,^%@&
@%^,¨¨¨¨¨¨ 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? ¨¨¨¨¨,^%@&
@%^,¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨,^%@
%^,¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨,^%
^,¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨,^
,¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨,
^,¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨,^