@$%††~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~††%$@
##@@$%†~~¨ ¨~~†%$@@##
##@@$%†~~¨ ¨~~†%$@@##
@$†~~¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨~~†$@
@$$††††~~¨ ¨~~††††$$@
##@@$%†~~¨ Winds esker ¨~~†%$@@##
##@@$%†~~¨ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¨~~†%$@@##
###@@$†~~¨ ¨~~†$@@###
##@@$%†~~¨ There Was This Place That For Two Years ¨~~†%$@@##
@$$$$%†~~¨ I Couldn'T Go To. Regardless How Much ¨~~†%$$$$@
@@%†~¨¨¨¨¨ Discussed With Others, Or Pointed Out ¨¨¨¨¨~†%@@
##@@$%†~~¨ On Maps, I Could Not Think Of It When ¨~~†%$@@##
###@$%†~~¨ Alone. I Would Often Travel Past The ¨~~†%$@###
@@$$$%†~~¨ 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 ¨¨¨~~%%$$@
##@@$%†~~¨ Were Much Too Close, As The Lake Should ¨~~†%$@@##
@@$†~~¨¨¨¨ Stretch For A Hundred Meters More On ¨¨¨¨~~†$@@
@$††~¨¨¨¨¨ Both Sides. But Now I Felt I Could ¨¨¨¨¨~††$@
##@@$%†~~¨ Almost Reach Out And Touch Them. And ¨~~†%$@@##
##@@$%†~~¨ Then, When I Realized Which Shores They ¨~~†%$@@##
@$%~¨¨¨¨¨¨ Were, I Had To Stop. ¨¨¨¨¨¨~%$@
#@@@$%†~~¨ ¨~~†%$@@@#
@$%%%†~¨¨¨ They Were Of The Right Lake. But This ¨¨¨~†%%%$@
@$†††~¨¨¨¨ Lake Is Large, Fractured, And ¨¨¨¨~†††$@
@@@$%%†~~¨ Bipartite. Like A Pair Of Lungs Carved ¨~~†%%$@@@
##@@$%†~~¨ Into The Granite, And With No Less Than ¨~~†%$@@##
###@@$%~~¨ Five Communities Anchored At Various ¨~~%$@@###
###@@$†~~¨ Points. And So, Studying These ¨~~†$@@###
#@@@$%†~~¨ Impossibly Close Shores, I Slowly ¨~~†%$@@@#
@@@@$%†~~¨ Understood Them As Belonging Many Miles ¨~~†%$@@@@
@@$†~¨¨¨¨¨ Away. ¨¨¨¨¨~†$@@
#@$$$%†~~¨ ¨~~†%$$$@#
@$%~¨¨¨¨¨¨ I Examined The Ridge, The Treeline ¨¨¨¨¨¨~%$@
##@@$%†~~¨ Above. Was This What You Saw Opposite, ¨~~†%$@@##
##@@$%†~~¨ From Those Other Shores? I Couldn'T ¨~~†%$@@##
##@@$%†~~¨ Remember. ¨~~†%$@@##
##@@$%†~~¨ ¨~~†%$@@##
@@@@$%†~~¨ Carrying Forward, On The Very Tip Of ¨~~†%$@@@@
##@@$%†~~¨ The Esker, I Found The Ruins Of Some ¨~~†%$@@##
@@%~¨¨¨¨¨¨ Old Building. There Were Overgrown ¨¨¨¨¨¨~%@@
##@@$%†~~¨ Marble Staircases, Stone Floors Beneath ¨~~†%$@@##
##@@$%†~~¨ The Moss, And Strange Slabs Inserted ¨~~†%$@@##
#@@$%%†~~¨ Into The Slope Like Dams Against The ¨~~†%%$@@#
#@@$†~~~¨¨ Ground Itself. ¨¨~~~†$@@#
@@$$†~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~†$$@@
@%~¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ Sitting There, I Could See Across The ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨~%@
##@@$%†~~¨ Narrowed Lake My Entire Path To Where I ¨~~†%$@@##
@@$††~¨¨¨¨ Sat: From The Stairwell Of My House, ¨¨¨¨~††$@@
@%~~¨¨¨¨¨¨ Through The Old Woods Behind The Tile ¨¨¨¨¨¨~~%@
@%~¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ Factory, The Bridge Over Route ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨~%@
@%%~~~¨¨¨¨ Twenty three And Then Back Under It, ¨¨¨¨~~~%%@
@$††~¨¨¨¨¨ Through The Fancy Villas, Over The ¨¨¨¨¨~††$@
##@@$%†~~¨ Fields, And Then That Right Turn At The ¨~~†%$@@##
@$$$$%†~~¨ Fork. ¨~~†%$$$$@
@$$$$%†~~¨ ¨~~†%$$$$@
@%†~~¨¨¨¨¨ And Then The Stairs Up On The Ridge. ¨¨¨¨¨~~†%@
##@@$%†~~¨ Thinking Back, This Was Probably It. ¨~~†%$@@##
@@@@$%†~~¨ Hidden In A Grove, There Were Stairs ¨~~†%$@@@@
#@@@$%†~~¨ Much Like The Ones I Currently Sat On, ¨~~†%$@@@#
@$%~~~¨¨¨¨ Old And Worn Down, That Lead You Up ¨¨¨¨~~~%$@
#@$%†~¨¨¨¨ Onto The Esker. The Point Of Entry. Had ¨¨¨¨~†%$@#
@%%~~~~~¨¨ I Insted Opted To Walk The Path At Its ¨¨~~~~~%%@
##@@$%†~~¨ Foot, I'M Sure My Experience Would'Ve ¨~~†%$@@##
##@@$%†~~¨ Been Different Indeed. ¨~~†%$@@##
##@@$%†~~¨ ¨~~†%$@@##
@@@%%~¨¨¨¨ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¨¨¨¨~%%@@@
##@@$%†~~¨ ¨~~†%$@@##
###@@$%†~~ On The Lake, There Were People In ~~†%$@@###
###@$%†~~¨ Boats. I Wondered, Could They Even See ¨~~†%$@###
##@@$%†~~¨ Me? If I Shouted, Would They Turn To ¨~~†%$@@##
@%%%†~~~~¨ Stare Right Through Me? ¨~~~~†%%%@
##@@$%†~~¨ ¨~~†%$@@##
@%†~~¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨~~†%@
###@$%†~~¨ ¨~~†%$@###
@$$$†~~¨¨¨ ¨¨¨~~†$$$@
@@%†~~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~~†%@@