.,«†§§#@## ##@#§§†«,.
.,,,††$§§§ §§§$††,,,.
.....,†§§# #§§†,.....
.,«†$§§#@# #@#§§$†«,.
.,«†$§§#@# #@#§§$†«,.
.....,†§§# 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 #§§†«««...
.,«†$§#@## foot, i'm sure my experience would've ##@#§$†«,.
....,†$§#@ been different indeed. @#§$†,....
....,«††§# #§††«,....
.,«†$§§#@# «««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««« #@#§§$†«,.
.,«†$§§§§# #§§§§$†«,.
.,«†$§§#@@ on the lake, there were people in @@#§§$†«,.
.,«††$§§§§ boats. i wondered, could they even see §§§§$††«,.
.,«†$§§§## me? if i shouted, would they turn to ##§§§$†«,.
.,«†$§§§§# stare right through me? #§§§§$†«,.
.,«««†§§§@ @§§§†«««,.
.,«†$§§#@# #@#§§$†«,.
.,«†$§§#@# #@#§§$†«,.
.,«†$§§#@# #@#§§$†«,.
.,«†$§§### ###§§$†«,.