&&^^^^\~^¨ ¨^~\^^^^&&
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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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&^\~¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨~\^&
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