##£&¤%†~:.                                          .:~†%¤&£##
###£&¤%†~.                                          .~†%¤&£###
##£&¤%†~:.                                          .:~†%¤&£##
£¤††~:....                                          ....:~††¤£
###£&¤%†:.                                          .:†%¤&£###
##£&¤%†~:.               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?          .:~†%¤&£##
##£&¤%†~:.                                          .:~†%¤&£##
##£&¤%†~:.                                          .:~†%¤&£##
##£&¤%†~:.                                          .:~†%¤&£##
##£&¤%†~:.                                          .:~†%¤&£##
###£&¤%†:.                                          .:†%¤&£###