@§$^;~,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
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@§$^;~,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
#@§$^;~,¨¨ ¨¨,~;^$§@#
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#@§$^;~,¨¨ WINDS ESKER ¨¨,~;^$§@#
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
§$^;~,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,~;^$§
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ THERE WAS THIS PLACE THAT FOR TWO YEARS ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
#@§$^;~,¨¨ I COULDN'T GO TO. REGARDLESS HOW MUCH ¨¨,~;^$§@#
##@§$^;~,¨ DISCUSSED WITH OTHERS, OR POINTED OUT ¨,~;^$§@##
#@§$^;~,¨¨ ON MAPS, I COULD NOT THINK OF IT WHEN ¨¨,~;^$§@#
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ ALONE. I WOULD OFTEN TRAVEL PAST THE ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
§$^;~,¨¨¨¨ FORK, WHERE A RIGHT TURN WOULD SURELY ¨¨¨¨,~;^$§
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ TAKE ME THERE, BUT EVEN THEN, SOMETHING ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
#@§$^;~,¨¨ KEPT ME AWAY. ¨¨,~;^$§@#
##@§$^;~,¨ ¨,~;^$§@##
#@§$^;~,¨¨ WHEN I FINALLY GOT THERE, AFTER SOME ¨¨,~;^$§@#
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ HEAVY SUBCONSCIOUS BATTLE I MUST ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
§$^;~,¨¨¨¨ ASSUME, THE PLACE WAS SURREAL. AN ¨¨¨¨,~;^$§
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ ESKER, LIKE A NEEDLE-THIN RIFT OUT IN ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
#@§$^;~,¨¨ THE LAKE, BUT TEN METERS HIGH AND ¨¨,~;^$§@#
##@§$^;~,¨ ADORNED IN BIRCH, WILLOW, BRACKEN, AND ¨,~;^$§@##
#@§$^;~,¨¨ BLUEBERRIES. ¨¨,~;^$§@#
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
§$^;~,¨¨¨¨ WALKING ATOP THAT SPINE, I CAME TO ¨¨¨¨,~;^$§
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ NOTICE THE VIEW TO EITHER SIDE. THERE ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
#@§$^;~,¨¨ SHOULD BE SHORES, OF COURSE, BUT I ¨¨,~;^$§@#
##@§$^;~,¨ DIDN'T RECOGNIZE THEM. FIRST OFF, THEY ¨,~;^$§@##
#@§$^;~,¨¨ WERE MUCH TOO CLOSE, AS THE LAKE SHOULD ¨¨,~;^$§@#
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ STRETCH FOR A HUNDRED METERS MORE ON ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
§$^;~,¨¨¨¨ BOTH SIDES. BUT NOW I FELT I COULD ¨¨¨¨,~;^$§
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ ALMOST REACH OUT AND TOUCH THEM. AND ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
#@§$^;~,¨¨ THEN, WHEN I REALIZED WHICH SHORES THEY ¨¨,~;^$§@#
##@§$^;~,¨ WERE, I HAD TO STOP. ¨,~;^$§@##
#@§$^;~,¨¨ ¨¨,~;^$§@#
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ THEY WERE OF THE RIGHT LAKE. BUT THIS ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
§$^;~,¨¨¨¨ LAKE IS LARGE, FRACTURED, AND ¨¨¨¨,~;^$§
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ BIPARTITE. LIKE A PAIR OF LUNGS CARVED ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
#@§$^;~,¨¨ INTO THE GRANITE, AND WITH NO LESS THAN ¨¨,~;^$§@#
##@§$^;~,¨ FIVE COMMUNITIES ANCHORED AT VARIOUS ¨,~;^$§@##
#@§$^;~,¨¨ POINTS. AND SO, STUDYING THESE ¨¨,~;^$§@#
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ IMPOSSIBLY CLOSE SHORES, I SLOWLY ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
§$^;~,¨¨¨¨ UNDERSTOOD THEM AS BELONGING MANY MILES ¨¨¨¨,~;^$§
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ AWAY. ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
#@§$^;~,¨¨ ¨¨,~;^$§@#
##@§$^;~,¨ I EXAMINED THE RIDGE, THE TREELINE ¨,~;^$§@##
#@§$^;~,¨¨ ABOVE. WAS THIS WHAT YOU SAW OPPOSITE, ¨¨,~;^$§@#
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ FROM THOSE OTHER SHORES? I COULDN'T ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
§$^;~,¨¨¨¨ REMEMBER. ¨¨¨¨,~;^$§
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
#@§$^;~,¨¨ CARRYING FORWARD, ON THE VERY TIP OF ¨¨,~;^$§@#
##@§$^;~,¨ THE ESKER, I FOUND THE RUINS OF SOME ¨,~;^$§@##
#@§$^;~,¨¨ OLD BUILDING. THERE WERE OVERGROWN ¨¨,~;^$§@#
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ MARBLE STAIRCASES, STONE FLOORS BENEATH ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
§$^;~,¨¨¨¨ THE MOSS, AND STRANGE SLABS INSERTED ¨¨¨¨,~;^$§
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ INTO THE SLOPE LIKE DAMS AGAINST THE ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
#@§$^;~,¨¨ GROUND ITSELF. ¨¨,~;^$§@#
##@§$^;~,¨ ¨,~;^$§@##
#@§$^;~,¨¨ SITTING THERE, I COULD SEE ACROSS THE ¨¨,~;^$§@#
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ NARROWED LAKE MY ENTIRE PATH TO WHERE I ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
§$^;~,¨¨¨¨ SAT: FROM THE STAIRWELL OF MY HOUSE, ¨¨¨¨,~;^$§
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ THROUGH THE OLD WOODS BEHIND THE TILE ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
#@§$^;~,¨¨ FACTORY, THE BRIDGE OVER ROUTE ¨¨,~;^$§@#
##@§$^;~,¨ TWENTY THREE AND THEN BACK UNDER IT, ¨,~;^$§@##
#@§$^;~,¨¨ THROUGH THE FANCY VILLAS, OVER THE ¨¨,~;^$§@#
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ FIELDS, AND THEN THAT RIGHT TURN AT THE ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
§$^;~,¨¨¨¨ FORK. ¨¨¨¨,~;^$§
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
#@§$^;~,¨¨ AND THEN THE STAIRS UP ON THE RIDGE. ¨¨,~;^$§@#
##@§$^;~,¨ THINKING BACK, THIS WAS PROBABLY IT. ¨,~;^$§@##
#@§$^;~,¨¨ HIDDEN IN A GROVE, THERE WERE STAIRS ¨¨,~;^$§@#
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ MUCH LIKE THE ONES I CURRENTLY SAT ON, ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
§$^;~,¨¨¨¨ OLD AND WORN DOWN, THAT LEAD YOU UP ¨¨¨¨,~;^$§
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ ONTO THE ESKER. THE POINT OF ENTRY. HAD ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
#@§$^;~,¨¨ I INSTED OPTED TO WALK THE PATH AT ITS ¨¨,~;^$§@#
##@§$^;~,¨ FOOT, I'M SURE MY EXPERIENCE WOULD'VE ¨,~;^$§@##
#@§$^;~,¨¨ BEEN DIFFERENT INDEED. ¨¨,~;^$§@#
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
§$^;~,¨¨¨¨ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¨¨¨¨,~;^$§
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
#@§$^;~,¨¨ ON THE LAKE, THERE WERE PEOPLE IN ¨¨,~;^$§@#
##@§$^;~,¨ BOATS. I WONDERED, COULD THEY EVEN SEE ¨,~;^$§@##
#@§$^;~,¨¨ ME? IF I SHOUTED, WOULD THEY TURN TO ¨¨,~;^$§@#
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ STARE RIGHT THROUGH ME? ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
§$^;~,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,~;^$§
@§$^;~,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,~;^$§@
#@§$^;~,¨¨ ¨¨,~;^$§@#
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