.,==*£@###                                          ###@£*==,.
.,==*£££@@                                          @@£££*==,.
....,,=£@#                                          #@£=,,....
.,====**@@                                          @@**====,.
.,,,,=££@#                                          #@££=,,,,.
.,==*£@###                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?         ###@£*==,.
.,==*£@###                                          ###@£*==,.
...,=**@##                                          ##@**=,...
.,==*£@###                                          ###@£*==,.
.,==*£@###                                          ###@£*==,.
.,==*£@###                                          ###@£*==,.