###&%†\=:. .:=\†%&###
&††\==::.. ..::==\††&
##&†=..... .....=†&##
###&%†\=:. .:=\†%&###
#%%%\===:. .:===\%%%#
###&%†\=:. 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? .:=\†%&###
###&%†\=:. .:=\†%&###
###&%†\=:. .:=\†%&###
###&%†\=:. .:=\†%&###
##&†=..... .....=†&##
###&%†\=:. .:=\†%&###