Flower Power Read online

  “I was so hot!” said Astrid. “This is better.”

  Taryn watched Astrid with a haziness about her, and a wry smile. Astrid was cute, and even cuter nude. She had a narrow build, a small chest, with a curvy butt. The performance made Taryn happy and she watched with delight.

  Astrid stuck her arms out and started running around in a circle, her shadow dancing with the last flames of the dying fire. She was laughing, and so was Alex. The notion struck Taryn that this moment was one of the best things she had ever experienced. It was hilarious and fun and bonding and erotic, all wrapped up into one. She couldn’t even believe she was living it. Her smiled was wide and plastered on, and a single tear rolled from her eye.

  Things sort of became a blur for Taryn after that. At one point, the three of them were stumbling together, bare feet in the grass, Astrid still fully bare herself. Taryn wasn’t sure where it came from, but she heard a voice speak out.

  “Where is my home?” the voice said. “Which one is my home?”

  Then Taryn was indoors. Her eyes were closed and she felt like she was sitting on a cloud. Taking a deep breath, she sighed long and loud, feeling gentle tugs on her hair, something touching her head. Slowly she opened her eyes and things were starting to feel normal once again. She was still a bit woozy, tired maybe, but Taryn looked around and could actually interpret where she was. She was in Alex’s yurt, sitting crosslegged on the bed. Taryn looked down at herself, and she saw she was naked. Turning her head, and feeling her hair get tugged as she did, she saw Alex sitting behind her. Alex was also naked, and she was braiding Taryn’s hair.

  “Mmm,” hummed Taryn. “That feels really nice.”

  “You said you couldn’t remember the last time someone braided your hair,” Alex said. “So I’m doing it.”

  “Thank you,” said Taryn with some grogginess in her voice. “Why are we naked?”

  “You said you wanted to be free like Astrid,” Alex replied, focusing in on her work with Taryn’s hair. “And you wanted me to be free, too.” Taryn chuckled.

  “I think I remember Astrid being naked,” said Taryn. “Did that happen?”

  “You don’t have to remember it,” said Alex. “You can see for yourself.” Alex pointed across the room and toward the living area of the yurt. There, on a mess of pillows, with a twisted up sheet barely covering her, was a still nude Astrid. She was face down into the pillows, and her ass was in plain sight.

  “Oh my God,” said Taryn.

  “We couldn’t remember where she lived,” said Alex, laughing gently. “So I told her I’d make her a bed.”

  “Wow,” Taryn said. She tried to piece things together from the night, but then she just decided to smile and not worry about it. This feeling of coming back to reality that she was currently in, it felt euphoric. And having Alex’s fingers working through her hair made it all the better.

  “There,” said Alex with finality. “Finished. Two French braids.” She scooted back a bit from Taryn and admired her work. Taryn reached a hand back and felt the braids.

  “That feels amazing,” Taryn said, still touching her hair and feeling the bumps and curves of the braids. “How does it look?”

  “You’re beautiful,” said Alex. She smiled joyfully and then leaned in and kissed Taryn on the lips. They kissed a few more times after that in succession.

  “Everything just went by in such a flash,” mused Taryn. “What time is it?”

  “Uh,” Alex said, leaning over and looking at her phone on the bedside table. “It’s just after three.”

  “Late,” said Taryn. “Should we call it a night?”

  “Sure,” Alex agreed with a smile. She maneuvered around, plucking the blanket out from under her and Taryn did the same. Together, the two slipped underneath the covers and cuddled up against each other.

  Reaching over, Alex flicked the light off and darkness fell upon the room. The ladies got comfortable, pressing against one another, arms wrapping around bodies. Taryn felt amazingly content, more than she’d felt in probably ever. She soon found herself kissing Alex, and Alex returned those kisses tenderly and happily.

  Then Taryn felt something. Alex was petting her between her thighs.

  “Hey,” Taryn said in a whisper. “What are you doing?”

  “You know,” said Alex, continuing to touch her.

  “But what about Astrid?” asked Taryn. “She’s right over there.”

  “So?” said Alex with a grin. She kissed Taryn once more.

  Taryn expected to feel anxious about what Alex was insinuating. That’s how she would have felt at any other time in her life. But this felt different. Slowly, a grin moved over her face as well.

  “Okay,” said Taryn. “Proceed.”

  And proceed they did.

  As she was slipping into her jeans, Taryn heard a loud commotion out of her bedroom window. She fastened her pants and then ambled over to the window to see what the noise was. Pushing the curtains aside, she saw a large flatbed trailer truck trying to maneuver into the driveway. It was having a bit of difficulty getting around the farm stand. Fastened onto the trailer with thick straps was a steel shipping container. It was corrugated on its sides, with floor to ceiling doors on one end. The container was painted orange, though it was fading at points as well as showing some rust and bigger scrapes.

  Taryn smiled and then stepped into a pair of sandals. She walked down the narrow stairs of the farmhouse and went outside.

  Standing along the driveway were a handful of the farm gang. Dev and Penny were chatting with one another, pointing along the path they expected the trailer to take. Similarly, Lucas and Scotty hung around together, both of them with arms crossed, discussing the project. Driving down the road behind the trailer was a yellow crane.

  Approaching Dev and Penny, Taryn smiled as she interrupted their conversation.

  “It’s so cool seeing that thing on the back of the truck,” said Taryn.

  “Just wait until the crane picks it up,” said Dev. He put his hand up, and Taryn slapped it and they both squeezed.

  “It’s cool, but it still scares me,” said Penny. “When they delivered our shipping containers back when we moved in, I really thought the crane was going to drop one. I just could not stop envisioning it. I’m going to watch this from a distance and protect the little one.” She rubbed her belly as she said this.

  The truck successfully navigated its way down the driveway, and together Lucas and Scotty jumped out ahead of it and began to direct traffic. They were leading the driver along one side of the house and past the barn, aiming to take it out into the field.

  “So this is going… where?” Taryn asked.

  “A little bit off from the yurts,” said Dev. “So everybody still has a bit of privacy.”

  “And who is going to convert it?” said Taryn.

  “Me and Lucas, probably,” said Dev. “It won’t take very long. Cut out a couple windows, a spot for a sliding glass door, insulate it and put up drywall. We’ll get it done fast.”

  “That’s so cool,” Taryn mused, watching the shipping container as it sat on the trailer and slowly drove next to the house. “I never even heard of people living in these things before I saw the one you two live in.”

  “Lucas is in one, too,” said Penny. “You haven’t seen his, have you?”

  “Just from the outside,” said Taryn.

  “He did a good job with his finishes,” said Dev. “A lot of cool woodwork.”

  “I’ll have to check it out,” Taryn replied.

  They stood there in silence for a moment, watching the crane follow behind the trailer. As they watched, a truck that was driving down the road slowed down and the driver gawked at the scene for a moment before driving off. Once it was safe, Dev began walking after the procession.

  “I’m going inside for some tea and I’ll watch from the back porch,” said Penny.

  “I’ll go with Dev,” said Taryn.

  “Just be careful, darling,” Penny
said. She kissed Taryn on the cheek and then she carried herself off with a grunt, holding underneath her belly with one hand.

  Taryn went into a jog as she caught up with Dev. She could tell he was excited by the look on his face. It communicated wonder and possibility, like this shipping container was a blank canvas and he would soon get to splash paint all over it.

  “What do these things cost?” Taryn asked as she walked alongside him.

  “Not much at all,” said Dev. “We got this for four grand delivered. We’ll probably put another two into it to finish it. So, when all said and done, six… maybe seven total if we hit any snags.”

  “Wow,” said Taryn. “That’s insane. I paid four hundred for my house.”

  “Well, yeah,” said Dev. “But this is pretty alternative, and you probably live in a fancy neighborhood with a fancy house.”

  “That’s very true,” admitted Taryn.

  As they crossed the yard and walked near the yurt village, the three other ladies—Alex, Astrid, and Justine—we’re standing off to the side and watching the spectacle as well. Scotty and Lucas now flanked the truck, as one directed the driver to follow him and the other took on directing the crane. Dev looked at Taryn, he smiled and patted her on the shoulder, and then he jogged off to help the guys. Taryn offered him a wave, but he’d already left her side. Breaking off from the path she was on, Taryn ambled up to the girls.

  “Everyone’s out for the event,” said Taryn with a smile.

  “It’s not everyday you get to see a crane lift a shipping container in your backyard,” said Alex with a grin. She slipped her arm around Taryn’s back and gave her a side hug.

  “Yeah,” added Justine. “It’s totally wild.”

  “Hey!” said Astrid, coming around and approaching Taryn. “Did you and Alex have sex that night we tripped and I stayed over in her yurt?”

  “Oh my God,” said Taryn, feeling the embarrassment rise up.

  “I told you we did,” said Alex.

  “I’m sorry, Astrid,” said Taryn. “We thought you were passed out and wouldn’t notice.”

  “Well I was mostly passed out,” said Astrid. “But I woke up at one point and looked over, and I thought I saw the two of you moving around. At least, I thought I saw a bare ass wiggling around in the air. I had no idea where I was and just thought it was a dream. But then I asked Alex about it, and she told me.”

  “I’m so embarrassed,” said Taryn. “Why did you tell her?” she emphatically asked Alex. Alex shrugged and grinned.

  “It’s okay,” said Astrid, waving it off. “I’m just mad you guys didn’t wake me up and ask me to join. I love fooling around on mushrooms.”

  Taryn’s embarrassment turned into a bit of shock. Her eyes darted over to Alex and Alex laughed.

  “You wouldn’t have,” teased Alex.

  “Yes, I would!” protested Astrid. “Just because I usually go for guys, that doesn’t mean I can’t roll with the ladies, too. I just like sex when I’m tripping.”

  “You girls were funny that night,” said Justine. “It made me regret not tripping with you.”

  “I don’t even know what to think about this,” said Taryn. She felt her cheeks. “Am I red?” Alex laughed at her and gave her another side hug squeeze.

  “You’re cute,” said Alex. She kissed the side of Taryn’s head.

  “Yeah, you have nothing to be embarrassed about,” said Astrid. “If that was your butt in the air I saw, that’s a thumbs up from me.” When she said this, she gave Taryn a thumbs up.

  “You’re just teasing her now,” said Alex, reaching out and wrapping her fingers around Astrid’s thumb.

  “Sorry,” said Astrid, wrangling her thumb away from Alex’s capture.

  “Whoa,” said Justine, pointing back to the action. “It’s starting to lift the shipping container.”

  The four of them watched as the crane lifted the container off of the trailer bed. It wobbled side to side a bit, but it soon evened out and kept balance in the air. Watching the crane maneuver around, spinning on its base, and navigating to where it was to place the shipping container, made Taryn feel breathless. She could just imagine, as Penny had said, that cable snapping and the container falling back down to the ground and splitting apart. But nobody else appeared very worried, least of all the guys who were recklessly walking around close to the scene. At one point, Dev even ran underneath where the container hung in the air to get in place to help guide it. Taryn found herself holding a hand to her chest, feeling her own heartbeat.

  As the crane lowered the container into the designated spot, guided on one side by Dev and on the other by Lucas, a few people clapped as the excitement came to an end. The man who had been driving the truck was standing near and once the container was placed, he approached Dev with a piece of paper and a pen. Dev scribbled onto the paper, gave it back, and then shook hands with the guy. The truck driver and the crane operator wasted no more time, and made their exit with haste.

  With the machinery gone, the four women approached the shipping container and all began inspecting it. Dev had opened up the large doors, and a few people went inside to check it out. Taryn was one of them, walking into the shipping container and looking around. It wasn’t very big, probably no more than two hundred square feet or less, but she could see the potential. With a few window cutouts, you’d get natural light. If Dev and Penny’s container home—which was made from two shipping containers—was any indication, this strange industrial box could easily be made to feel cozy and comfortable.

  Taryn smiled as ideas raced through her mind.

  Taryn’s time was almost up. She had put in for six weeks off, blowing through a bulk of the PTO she had accumulated, and she would soon have to return to the office. She dreaded it. The more she thought about it, the more depressed she got. When she looked at her email on her phone, there were thousands of messages she would have to go through. Many of them were inconsequential, automated emails, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t have to at least look through them and hit delete. She had called Jens a few days prior, and although it was obvious he was annoyed, there was no talk of Taryn being fired. It was seeming as though she could simply walk back into work and continue on as normal.

  But Taryn’s normal felt like it had changed. Being out on the farm with Alex and the rest of the group, it really felt nurturing and rejuvenating. It wasn’t like a beach vacation or anything like that. Instead of lying around, drinking cocktails, and trying desperately to push work out of her mind, being on the farm was work, but it was also a lot of play. And where those two ideas came together, Taryn felt fulfillment.

  Her relationship with Alex was amazing. Taryn felt herself truly falling in love with this woman. It was so easy to be around her, so easy to just be herself. But what Taryn’s self was becoming was something different than she was used to. And the thought of going back to her job, to that place that fueled her anxiety and her stress, it was almost too much to bear. Taryn was grateful for what she had, and for what she had accomplished in her life, but it felt like her priorities were shifting.

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” mused Taryn. She and Alex were lying in bed together, half clothed, chilling out in the afternoon in Alex’s yurt. Alex was delicately playing with her hair. “I don’t feel the same anymore.”

  “I know,” said Alex. “It’s hard. When do you feel you changed the most?”

  “It sounds almost cliche to say it,” said Taryn. “But I think something really changed inside of me after doing those mushrooms.”

  “Oh?” Alex replied, perking up. “How so?”

  “Do you remember how I was obsessed with the idea of slender?” asked Taryn. “Like, I kept talking about if my fingers were too slender? Or something like that…”

  “Yeah,” Alex said with a laugh. “I remember.”

  “In my mind, I was conflating slender and spender, if that makes any sense,” said Taryn. “I don’t know. But in my trippy state, I was thi
nking about being a big spender. Like I was obsessed with money.”

  “Oh yeah,” said Alex as she remembered. “You sang that song. Hey big spender! But you said slender.” Taryn laughed and shook her head in embarrassment.

  “God,” said Taryn. “So corny. But anyway, I just had this wake up moment, you know? Like, what am I doing with my life? I’m spending my days working my ass off to earn all this money just so I can buy fancier and fancier things that—let’s be real—I hardly use and don’t even need. I have enough. I have enough money.”

  “You have enough money?” said Alex. “As in, you have enough forever or you know your enough point and that’s what you need to survive?”

  “Honestly,” said Taryn. “I have enough forever.”

  “What?” Alex said with confusion. “Really?”

  “I mean, yeah,” Taryn said. “I’ve been a trader for ten years. I’ve been with my company since early on. When we have good years, we get nice bonuses. It just adds up, you know?”

  “Wow,” Alex said absently. “I can’t even imagine that feeling. You have enough money to last you the rest of your life? I mean, you really do?”

  “I think so,” said Taryn. “That’s what I was trying to wrap my brain around in that inebriated state. If I stop spending on this stuff I don’t really need, I could really live for the rest of my life on what I’ve already got.”

  “Blows me away,” said Alex. “I really want to know what you have. But that’s so inappropriate to ask. I don’t need to know.”

  “I’ll tell you,” Taryn replied with a nonchalant shrug. “I don’t care.”

  “You really don’t have to,” countered Alex. “But I am intensely curious about it.”

  “It’s fine,” said Taryn. “In various stock and bond accounts, stuff I could easily liquidate if I needed, I probably have about a million dollars.”

  “A million?” repeated Alex in awe.