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¨,~:†*£¶## 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. ##¶£*†:~,¨
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¨,~:†*£¶¶¶ 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. #¶£*††:~,¨
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¨,~:†*£¶## 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. ##¶£*†:~,¨
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¨¨¨,::†**£ 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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