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@¶£@=^=.¨¨ winds esker ¨¨.=^=@£¶@
#@¶£@=^=.¨ ======================================== ¨.=^=@£¶@#
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¶£@=^=.¨¨¨ 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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