£@@†~,,,,,                                          ,,,,,~†@@£
##££@^†~~,                                          ,~~†^@££##
#£££@^†~~,                                          ,~~†^@£££#
£@@†~,,,,,                                          ,,,,,~†@@£
#£@^^^†~~,                                          ,~~†^^^@£#
####@^†~~,               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?         ,,,,~†^@£#
###£@^†~~,                                          ,~~†^@£###
####£@^†~,                                          ,~†^@£####
###£@^†~~,                                          ,~~†^@£###
#££^†~~~~,                                          ,~~~~†^££#
###£@^†~~,                                          ,~~†^@£###