@@&$$//-:, ,:-//$$&@@
##@&£$/-:, ,:-/$£&@##
###@&$/-:, ,:-/$&@###
##@&£$/-:, ,:-/$£&@##
##@&£$/-:, ,:-/$£&@##
###@£$/-:, winds esker ,:-/$£@###
#&$$$-:,,, ---------------------------------------- ,,,:-$$$
##@&£$/-:, ,:-/$£&@##
#@£$-:,,,, there was this place that for two years ,,,,:-$£@#
@£/::::,,, 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 ,,,,-/£&@#
##@&£$/-:, been different indeed. ,:-/$£&@##
##@&£$/-:, ,:-/$£&@##
##@&£$/-:, ---------------------------------------- ,:-/$£&@##
##@&£$/-:, ,:-/$£&@##
##@&£$/-:, on the lake, there were people in ,:-/$£&@##
##@&£$/-:, boats. i wondered, could they even see ,:-/$£&@##
@&£$///-:, me? if i shouted, would they turn to ,:-///$£&@
##@&£$/-:, stare right through me? ,:-/$£&@##
&$/::,,,,, ,,,,,::/$&
##@&£$/-:, ,:-/$£&@##
&&££$$/-:, ,:-/$$££&&
&$$/:,,,,, ,,,,,:/$$&
#&£/--:,,, ,,,:--/£