“Just a coincidence?” said Penny. “I want you to think about all that for a while. And consider this: when you start to notice coincidences, that means you’re on the right track.”
“Okay,” Taryn said with greater confusion.
“You’re here because you’re tortured,” said Penny. “Something is happening to you. Your mind and body are revolting in someway. Do you think it’s just a coincidence that you met Alex because she was delivering flowers to your office?”
“I… yeah,” said Taryn. “I guess that’s just a coincidence.”
“All right,” Penny said calmly. “I tell you what. Just follow your coincidences. You’re already doing it, so just keep doing it. And see where it leads you.”
“Sure,” Taryn said. “I’ll follow my coincidences.”
“Baby,” Penny said with a sense of urgency, quickly stepping closer to Taryn and stopping her hand. “You’re going to cut yourself.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Taryn said, looking down at her hands on the cutting board. She was near the end of a carrot and she had almost cut herself. “Thank you.”
Just then, Alex burst through the kitchen door from outside. She was holding an arm up with her hand aloft, her index finger sticking into the air. With her other hand, she held a small swatch of fabric or canvas around it.
“Pardon me,” Alex said, swiftly moving toward the sink. “I cut myself.”
As Alex reached the sink, she pushed the tap on and put her finger under it while Penny immediately rushed toward a cabinet and retrieved a first aid kit. Penny moved over toward Alex to help, pouring some isopropyl alcohol over the cut and then applying pressure with a clean piece of gauze. Alex seethed with a bit of pain, but she was all right. As Penny tended to her friend’s wound, Taryn watched with an odd feeling in her stomach. She easily connected the dots, but she didn’t want to admit it. It just felt weird to have it happen so quickly like that.
“I wasn’t paying attention,” said Alex, while Penny continued holding her hand. “I was talking to Justine in the greenhouse while I was cutting some stems. Before I knew it… snip! Those scissors are sharp.”
“It’s okay,” Penny cooed. “It’s not very deep. It’ll stop bleeding shortly.”
Taryn looked down to her own hand and at her own index finger. It felt like it was throbbing. Looking back and forth between her finger and the scene at the sink, she got a little lightheaded. She didn’t know what to think.
“I’m going to sit down,” said Taryn absently. Penny looked over to her and smiled.
“No problem,” Penny replied, motioning toward the table and chair set in the kitchen. “Have a seat and we’ll get back to cooking once Alex is all taken care of.”
Taryn nodded, and she ambled over to the table and sat. She watched the women at the sink, the two of them chatting and laughing, as Penny dried and dressed Alex’s cut. Her finger continued to throb, and Taryn did her best not to faint.
Some days later, Taryn was out back in the forested area of the property. She wore jeans and a long-sleeve shirt, along with both eye and ear protection. In her hand she held a chainsaw, and she was carefully using it to cut lengths of logs from a fallen tree. Lucas stood about ten feet away from her, arms crossed, watching Taryn intently as she sawed. It was Taryn’s first time with the chainsaw, and she wasn’t doing a half bad job at the task.
“How’s that?” Taryn asked, cutting the chainsaw engine and lifting up her protective headphones.
“That’s good,” Lucas said, now stepping closer to her. “Remember what I told you. Keep the blade in line with the cut you’re making.”
“Okay,” said Taryn. “Was I not doing that?”
“You were tilting it a bit,” said Lucas. “And you were kicking saw dust back up at yourself.”
Lucas was usually a pretty quiet man, and this was the most Taryn had ever spoken with him. He was all business, with little emotion otherwise. But he was always nice, never seeming like he was annoyed or put out.
“Right,” said Taryn. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s fine,” Lucas said. “You’ll get use to how it feels.”
“So we’re going to do this log,” Taryn said, motioning toward the log she had been cutting. “And is that it?”
“We’ll maybe do a few of these fallen trees,” said Lucas. “I’ll grab my other chainsaw and we can work at the same time. Then we’ll see what we can load into the pickup and take it to our wood storage area to dry it out.”
“Okay,” Taryn said with a smile of accomplishment. It felt good to exert herself like this, to do a physical activity that she’d never done before. It was a far cry from sitting at a computer and clicking around with a mouse.
“But you’re doing fine,” Lucas confirmed. “Just stay present and be careful.”
“I will,” Taryn said.
“Feel free to continue on,” said Lucas. “I’ll be right back.”
Lucas went to the pickup truck and pulled out another chainsaw from the bed. Taryn replaced her protective headphones and resumed in her work, the loud buzz of the chainsaw echoing throughout the forest. When Lucas returned, he wore his own protective gear and he began sawing as well, quickly moving along one of the other grounded trees in the area. He went at about double the speed of Taryn, but Taryn tried not to feel rushed because of it. She took her time and did it right, following the instructions that Lucas had laid out for her. It didn’t take them too long, working together, to saw the trees into the appropriate sized logs.
With thick yellow work gloves on her hands, Taryn lifted one log at a time, walked it over to the pickup, and tossed it into the bed with a grunt. Lucas did the same, but he didn’t wear gloves, he took multiple logs at a time, and it didn’t seem like it was work at all to him. The experience made Taryn feel weak, which was not a feeling she liked nor one she had felt very often. She was used to being high powered, important, well regarded. But this physical activity, hefting logs, was completely out of her wheelhouse.
“I’m going to pause for a minute,” Taryn said, resting her hand on the back of the pickup and taking a breath. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay,” Lucas said as he tossed another log into the back. Just as Lucas turned to resume his work, Taryn stopped him.
“Hey Lucas,” she said.
“Yep?” he replied, stopping in his tracks and addressing her.
“I don’t mean to be too forward,” Taryn began. “But… what’s your story?”
“Huh?” replied Lucas. “My story?”
“Yeah,” said Taryn, suddenly feeling embarrassed for asking but pressing on anyway. “I mean, how did you come to be here? On the farm. With all the others.”
“Um,” said Lucas, wiping his hands on his jeans as he considered the question. “I suppose it was a thing to do. I was kind of lost at the time, but I always like doing outdoor stuff and taking care of house maintenance.”
“What did you do before this?” asked Taryn.
“Well, I worked in IT,” said Lucas. “I was a systems administrator for a company in Ann Arbor.”
“So you gave that up to live the farm life?” said Taryn.
“Not exactly,” Lucas said. “Back during the recession in 2008, I lost my job. I was in my late thirties at the time. I had a hell of a time finding work after that. No one would hire me. When they did start hiring again, a lot of the jobs went to younger people who they could pay less. I never really recovered from that, career-wise.”
“I’m sorry,” said Taryn. “That’s really rough.”
“At the time it was hard,” said Lucas. “It makes you feel bad when you’re not getting hired because of your age. Despite your knowledge and experience, they just don’t care. It’s a tough pill to swallow.”
“Right,” agreed Taryn.
“But I survived,” said Lucas. “I did some odd jobs as I got back on my feet. Eventually I met Dev, who was trying to get the funds together to buy some land and start a cooperative. We got a
long well, I thought he had a good plan, so I joined up. Five or six years later, whatever it is now, here I am.” He gave a small smile, and that show of emotion made Taryn smile in kind.
“That’s great,” Taryn affirmed. “I think it’s really cool what you all are doing out here. It feels really good.”
“I’m not as hippie-dippy as some of the others here,” said Lucas. “But they’re all good people, I respect them, and I’m happy to be part of their lives. I’ve had my ups and downs—lost my career, like I said—went through a divorce, lost a lot of my savings. But these guys have been there for me and I don’t forget kindness like that.”
“What do you think about Alex?” Taryn asked, trying to be a bit sly about it.
“Alex?” said Lucas. “She’s sweet. Got a green thumb. She’s good with the business side of things, too.”
“Anything else about her?” Taryn pressed.
“What do you mean?” Lucas replied with confusion.
“I don’t know,” Taryn said quickly. “Nothing.”
Lucas lifted an eyebrow.
“I just mean…” Taryn went on, not knowing what she was asking or where this was going specifically. “Is she a kind and, uh… open person?”
“Sure,” said Lucas, the expression on his face communicating that he was a bit lost from Taryn’s questioning. “She’s kind and open. Alex is someone you can rely on. She’s trustworthy and knowledgable and… good. Is that what you’re asking?”
“Yeah,” said Taryn a bit absently. It wasn’t exactly what she was trying to ask, but she felt like she was already pushing it.
Lucas gave Taryn a look and it started to become clear to him. He nodded slowly as the realization hit and he stroked his chin.
“Are you asking because you’re taken by Alex?” Lucas said. Taryn’s eyes went wide and she was hit with pangs of embarrassment.
“I… no,” Taryn replied quickly. “I don’t know. I didn’t say that.”
“As far as I know,” Lucas said, moving past Taryn’s stammering. “Alex is open to any opportunity the universe presents her with. Those are her words. I don’t think she’s one to say no when new possibilities arise in her life. That’s how she ended up here, I believe.”
“Okay,” said Taryn. She took a deep breath and wiped at her forehead. “Thank you.”
“So is that what you were looking for?”
“Yes,” Taryn admitted sheepishly. “Something like that.”
“Okay, then,” said Lucas. He gave another small smile. “Why don’t you and I get back to work then?”
“Oh, right,” said Taryn, looking around as though she had forgotten where she was. “We’re loading logs into the truck.”
“We are,” confirmed Lucas. “Then we’re going to take them up near the barn and unload them all. You going to be all right with that?”
“Yeah, absolutely,” said Taryn. “I’ll be fine.”
“Let’s do it, then,” said Lucas. He turned from her and walked back over to where the chopped logs lay on the forest floor.
It took her a moment, but Taryn soon followed. She couldn’t believe that she had asked Lucas what she had about Alex. She barely knew him, and this was really the first time the two of them had talked. Still, Taryn was feeling a mounting infatuation with Alex and she didn’t know how to address it. In the past, she would have just gone for it—just like she did at work. But things were changing for Taryn, and she was beginning to feel like a different person. On the farm, out here in the woods, this was a realm that made Taryn feel like an outsider. Her confidence, however, was growing and it made her feel like this new path she was walking might be exactly what she needed.
Taryn tossed another log into the pickup, and she daydreamed about Alex. She was feeling happy.
Taryn approached the door of Alex’s yurt with some trepidation. She had gone looking for Alex, but she hadn’t been in any of the expected places like the greenhouse. But Taryn had run into Astrid, whose own yurt was close to Alex’s, and she told Taryn she had passed Alex on her way out. Taryn couldn’t quite explain to herself why she was so anxious. Normally, she might pop a pill and let the pharmacology do the work. But since being on the farm, she was trying to see if she could ween herself off of those kind of solutions.
Fighting through the nervous energy, Taryn knocked on Alex’s door and then she stepped back and waited. She put a subtle smile on her face, trying to play it cool. But when Alex opened the door, standing there in just a tank top and small shorts, Taryn melted into a mess of nerves and infatuation. It made her feel like a teenager again.
“Hi,” said Alex with a happy grin. She had a hint of perspiration on her forehead, and her cheeks had some rosiness to them. “How’s it going?”
“It’s going,” replied Taryn. “I’m sorry to interrupt. It looks like you were working out or something.”
“I was,” said Alex. “I was doing some yoga and meditation. But I just finished.”
“I can come back later,” protested Taryn. “I’m sorry.”
“No, really,” Alex said with a laugh. “Come on in. Really, I finished just a few minutes ago. You’re not interrupting at all.”
“Okay,” said Taryn with a shy smile. Alex stepped out of the way and Taryn entered into her home. She looked around, taking in the familiar vantage, as Alex shut the door behind her.
The windows to the yurt were open, leaving just screen netting to separate it from the outdoors. A cool breeze wafted in, along with the delicate scent of lavender coming in off the field. Alex walked into her living area and squatted down, carefully rolling up her yoga mat. Taryn lazily followed her, scanning the yurt, remembering what it was like that time she had spent the night in Alex’s bed.
“Are you having a nice day?” Alex asked, setting her rolled mat upright on the floor next to a bookshelf. “It’s really lovely out.”
“I am,” said Taryn. “Thank you.”
“We’ve really been putting you to work this week, haven’t we?” Alex said with a small laugh. “I hope you’re enjoying it and not second guessing coming to stay with us.”
“No, I really am enjoying it,” said Taryn. “It gets me out of my head, you know? I’m not dwelling on all the usual crap I think about.” Alex laughed again and she plopped down into a cushy chair. Taryn followed her lead and sat in a similar looking chair opposite of Alex.
“Manual labor is good for that,” mused Alex. “It’s like, you don’t really have to think about it. You just go into autopilot and you do your job. It’s really nice, isn’t it?”
“It is,” agreed Taryn. “I was chainsawing logs with Lucas earlier,” she continued on. “I’ve never done anything like that before. You really feel like you’re doing something.”
“Right?” said Alex. “It makes you forget you ever sat under florescent lights in an office, pounding into a keyboard.”
“Well, I’m not as far removed from that as you are,” Taryn said as an addendum. “Hey. Anyway. I came here because I wanted to talk to you about something just… kind of strange.”
“Okay,” said Alex, her smile growing as she folded her legs up underneath herself and sat crosslegged in her chair. “I like strange.”
“Do you remember when you cut yourself the other day?” Taryn asked. “You came into the kitchen while I was helping Penny with making stock. It was my first day here.”
“Yeah,” said Alex. “Of course. I remember. Doing much better,” she said, holding up her bare finger. A faint cut mark could be seen.
“That’s good,” Taryn said, looking at Alex’s finger. “Well, anyway… just the weirdest thing. Right before you came into the kitchen—literally, immediately before—Penny stopped me from accidentally cutting my own finger.”
“Oh,” Alex remarked, slowly nodding.
“And at the same time, Penny and I were talking about coincidences,” continued Taryn. “And then you and I had this coincidence. But Penny was arguing that there were no coincidences. That ev
erything happens for a reason. Like a destiny sort of thing, which I’ve never believed in.”
“Right,” said Alex, her smile growing.
“But she said something like… did I think it was just a coincidence that you and I met because you were delivering flowers to my office, and at that same time I was feeling lost and decided to come out here,” said Taryn, feeling a bit muddled in her explanation. “I don’t know if I’m explaining it right. But it’s like, I met you at this time when I needed someone like you to come along. And then, right after that, we have this other coincidence with the finger cutting. Does this make sense?”
“I get it,” said Alex. “If you remember, I told you I knew that you needed help. That you’re feeling pain. I sensed that, too, and I’m not an empath like Penny is. If I felt it coming from you, which I did even that very first time we met, then there must be something greater to it.”
“You think so?” replied Taryn. “You really think that something like that is possible?”
“Of course,” said Alex. “You mean some sort of connection between people? Absolutely. We’re all connected in a cosmic sort of way. But some individuals do have real and deep connections with other individuals, and are drawn together like magnets. I absolutely believe that.”
“It just feels like such mumbo jumbo to me,” said Taryn. “I’ve never believed in anything like that.”
“I think once you open yourself to it,” said Alex. “You start to see it more often. And the more you see it, the more you understand it. So don’t worry about belief in it right now. Don’t worry about faith. Just be open. Just go with the flow, you know?” She grinned.
“Yeah,” said Taryn with a short laugh and a cautious smile. “Just go with the flow.”
“Just know that I feel the connection, too,” Alex went on. “It’s why I was so open and ready to have you here, and to invite you to stay with us for a while as you try to figure your life out. If you and I are psychically connected somehow, I would only damage myself if I didn’t try to help you.”
“I have to admit, Alex,” said Taryn. “All this stuff is really… it’s really tough for me. Tough to accept, and not just discount it as a bunch of bullshit.” Alex just grinned her accepting grin.
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