.#...#.### ...#......
..#....#.# ....#.....
...#.....# .....#....
....#....# ......#...
.....#.... #......#..
......#... 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? ....#.##..
..#...#..# ......###.
...#...#.. ......#.##
#...#...#. #.......##
##...#...# ##......#.
###...#... .##.......