,......... .........,
-,........ ........,-
†-,....... .......,-†
%†-,...... ......,-†%
%%†-,..... .....,-†%%
@%%†-,.... 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? .....,-†%%
@%%†-,.... ....,-†%%@
@@%%†-,... ...,-†%%@@
#@@%%†-,.. ..,-†%%@@#
##@@%%†-,. .,-†%%@@##
#@@%%†-,.. ..,-†%%@@#