.....-~/$$ $$/~-.....
......-~/$ $/~-......
.......-~/ /~-.......
........-~ ~-........
.........- -.........
.......... Winds esker ..........
.......... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ..........
.......... ..........
.........- There Was This Place That For Two Years -.........
........-~ I Couldn'T Go To. Regardless How Much ~-........
.......-~/ Discussed With Others, Or Pointed Out /~-.......
......-~/$ 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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.......... ..........
.........- -.........
........-~ ~-........