Spring Onions
Dew sparkled across the field as Al sipped her instant coffee on the porch. Dawn covered the landscape in soft cool hues, soon to be followed by the sun’s orange rays. There was something soft and comforting about quiet early mornings. Al closed her eyes and sighed. She had hoped that by now she would feel fully present, but she continued to feel a slight haze coat everything. She was sick of disassociating. She opened her eyes again, taking in as much of the view as she could before placing her cup down and grabbing her watering can.
She finished her watering, and a bit more of clearing the field, by about the time she supposed the town would be coming to life. It was time to bite that bullet and meet the rest of the town. She changed into a black high-waisted skirt and a pink top, going for an outfit that was cute, but not too ambitious. She threw on the sturdy boots she’d bought for the move (there was no way her usual sneakers would last on these dirt and cobblestone paths) and headed out.
When she arrived at the town, she realized she had no idea where to start. Should she start walking in a circle around town, hoping to bump into townsfolk? Should she sit on a bench in the square like an exhibit for people to stop at? Luckily, Mayor Lewis spotted her looking lost and came over.
“Farmer Al! Do you need help finding something?” he asked.
“Sort of. Um, how do I go about introducing myself to people? I met a few people running errands yesterday, but I don’t know where else to go.”
“Well, I’ve got an hour of time to give, if you’d like me to introduce you around town.”
Al felt the tension release from her shoulders. “That would be wonderful, thank you.”
Mayor Lewis took her door to door, introducing her to the townsfolk. She used a small notebook she had brought along to jot down all the names and important information she came across. She was going to need to study in the hopes of not offending anyone by forgetting their name. The townsfolk were a diverse lot, but most seemed rather friendly. After introducing her to Marnie, the rancher just outside of town, Mayor Lewis suggested that Al go to the cottage they had seen nearby on her own.
“I just need to make sure Marnie’s business needs are met. Leah is the last person left to for you to meet, so I’m sure you can handle yourself,” he explained
“Oh, of course, go about your mayor business. Thank you so much. It was nice meeting you, Marnie!” Nothing suspicious here.
Al wrote down her notes on the rancher as she walked over to Leah’s cottage. It was a quaint cottage, just barely bigger than her own, but it was in much better shape. She couldn’t help but noticed the intricate carvings in the wood framing the door. Were these carvings of native plants of the valley? Her nerves flared back up as she knocked on the door. All of her interactions today had gone better than... that one interaction from the previous day; hopefully this last one would go well. The door was opened by a woman with red hair and kind eyes.
“Hi, I’m Al, the new farmer,” Al recited her go-to greeting.
“Hello, it's nice to meet you. I’m Leah.” Leah replied.
“Nice to meet you too.”
“You picked a good time to move here. The spring is lovely.”
“I used to visit my grandpa here during the summer when I was a kid. I didn’t know the valley could be even more gorgeous in other seasons. It’s refreshing to be out in nature again.” Al took a look at the forest just a breath away; it was the type of forest one wouldn’t mind getting lost in.
“There's actually a lot of wild food in this area, if you know where to look. I've been having fresh salads almost every day. If you’ve got some time, I could show you around the forest a bit.”
“I would love that! I believe I’ve done most of what I set out to do today already.”
Al was surprised to learn just how much edible wildlife there was in the area; by the end of Leah’s tour Al had a whole lunch in her bag. While they circled back to Leah’s cottage, Al noticed some wood planks leading across the river to an island, then to the other shore.
“Oo, what’s out there?” Al asked, pointing in the direction of the planks.
“I wouldn’t know,” Leah said, a nervous look on her face, “I don’t trust those old planks enough to walk on them.”
“They seem fine to me.”
“I don’t know.... Anyway, I promised Elliot I’d meet up with him around now. I’ll see you around. Bye!”
“Bye!” I hope I didn’t scare her off.
Al was alone again, and those rickety planks were calling to her. She could almost hear them saying, “Spring onions this way!” She put one foot on them, testing it out. Creaking, some bending, but nothing too worrisome. She held her breath as she took another step. She waited a few seconds.... She wasn’t in the water yet, which was good enough of a sign for her to keep going.
-
There was an entrance to the farm at the edge of the forest; to get back to her cottage, Al just needed to carve a path through the overgrowth with the tools she had brought with her. Her bag was now full of foraged food, spring onions included. It was more than she could eat on her own, but she could sell some of it and buy more seeds. She was feeling proud of herself. When she arrived at the clearing that she had carved out earlier, however, she noticed a figure wearing a black hoodie and carrying a chair onto the farm from the mountain path. It was Robin’s son; she must have sent him with the chair to apologize for the day before. When they neared each other, he held the chair out toward her, with a soft grunt.
“Um, hi,” Al said, feeling uncomfortable under his cold gaze. He grunted firmly and attempted again, more aggressively, to hand her the chair.
Some apology.
Al tried to discern from his face what was going on with him. His eyes were almost as dark as his hair, a stark contrast from his pale skin. His hair flopped to one side, threatening to fall into his eye. Unfortunately, all she could figure out from his expression was that he did not want to be there. She must have taken too long trying to gauge the situation, because he put the chair down in front of her and stormed off.