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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. ¨:~*†£@@##
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##@@£†*~:¨ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¨:~*†£@@##
@@@†~:¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨:~†@@@
##@@£†*~:¨ 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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