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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. ¨^-†§&£@##
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@@£&*§†-^¨ 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. ¨¨¨^†††*££
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#@£&*§†-^¨ 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. ^-†§*&£@##
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&§--^¨¨¨¨¨ 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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