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&&£†~~^¨¨¨ winds esker ¨¨¨^~~†£&&
##¶&£†;~^¨ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¨^~;†£&¶##
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##¶&£†;~^¨ 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? ¨¨¨¨¨^;£&&
##¶&£†;~^¨ ¨^~;†£&¶##
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