Authors: Marcia C Brandt
The
next morning Jim arrived early for his appointment with the lawyer. Calli had agreed to meet him afterwards. She decided to go to Sally’s office beforehand and tell her what was going on. Hopefully she would have some more ideas for Jim. Plus she wanted to tell her about Jim’s ‘falling in love’ statement. Lucky for her Sally’s boss was out for the day so they could talk freely. “I’m just so worried about Jim. He seems so angry and upset about this reporter. I went over there yesterday afternoon and he told me all about it.” Sally listened intently as the story unfolded. “At the very end of our conversation, you’ll never believe what he said to me!” Sally already knew what she was going to tell her, her psychic abilities were in full power at the moment. “He said that he’s falling in love with you. Does that surprise you? After all you are quite the catch and from what you told me the most beautiful girl at the wedding.” The teasing in her voice helped Calli relax a bit. “How did you know? Oh, I forgot you can read other people’s minds. Isn’t that a crime?” Sally rolled her eyes, and stuck out her tongue, similar to what Calli had done to her not to
o
long ago. “No, you have the move wrong. You are supposed to cross your eyes, not roll them around.” Now the two of them were laughing, the tension had disappeared and they got down to discussing the possibilities for Jim to get rid of the reporter even before he arrived. “There’
s
always
hiring someone to ‘rub him out’!
But then they’d probably just send another one to investigate and report on the murder. What do your psychic guides say about all this drama?” Without hesitation Sally declared, “This is an important step for Jim to finish his healing concerning his wife’s death. And he will be reinstated in the scientific community and his finding will be verified. There already is study going on and he will be able to publish his papers and his manuscript.” After she came out of her trance state, Calli looked shocked. “
I don’t know whether or not to believe all this or to even consider that it might happen. I was just getting comfortable with the idea that Jim might be my husband and that we could grow vegetables together and have kids and…..” Her voice faded away as she thought about Jim leaving here and becoming a famous scientist again. He wouldn’t have time for her and her dreams of a family. It just didn’t seem fair, she was just getting ready to fall in love again and then wham! Something steps in and whisks him away.
“Where did you go? You look absolutely devastated. Calli
,
talk to me.” With tears in her eyes, she told her best friend all her hopes and dreams and her fantasy life with Jim, running the orchard together, selling their vegetables at the farmers market, and them carrying on the honey business that she and her grandfather were building. “Oh, honey, that’s a wonderful dream, but don’t call it a fantasy. As we imagine our lives to be they can actually become. There’s a saying
,
what matters to you, becomes matter, in the physical sense. So if it matters to you that you have a wonderful life with Jim, keep focusing upon that and see what happens. I know that you’ve opened your heart enough to let someone love you again, don’t stop now and close it all back up in a tight little ball.”
Calli’s cell phone rang, it was Jim, “Yes, okay. I’ll meet you there in half an hour.” Sally was curious and hoping that he had good news. “What did he say?”
“Nothing, I’m going to meet him at the Burger Barn for lunch in half an hour. Would you like to join us?” With her boss gone for the day, she had a little more flexibility for her lunch hour. “Absolutely. I’ll be there.” Giving her friend a quick hug, Calli left the court house and headed across the street to the town square and the bench they usually sat on for lunch. The pigeons were flocking around her hoping that she had bread crumbs or some other food for them. “What do you think I am? One of those elderly gentlemen who sit here in the afternoon and play checkers feeding you to keep you off the checker board?” For an unknown reason, Calli was even irritated at the harmless pigeons this morning. Well, maybe not unknown, but what exactly was causing her bad mood. She was projecting so much into the future that she felt helpless. One of the things that Sally preached to her constantly was to stay in the present moment. We can’t change the past and we can’t live in the future. Right now is all we have. It was like a broken record playing over and over in her head. Stay in the moment. Focus upon what you want. The past is over. But it seemed like the past was coming back to change Jim’s future. How did all this work? I’m so lost spiritually with all this attraction stuff. Thin
k I’ll go to the bakery and find
me a nice cherry turnover to sooth my mood.
Jim was relieved to see both Calli and Sally at the Burger Barn. He really felt like he could use all the friends he had. The lawyer hadn’t been very positive about stopping the reporter from contacting him. He had said he could refuse to talk to him, but that probably wouldn’t stop them from digging up details and writing the story anyway without Jim’s input. He felt trapped and ready to escape, anywhere but here. After explaining all the legal points Jim looked at his friends and hoped that they would have a better solution. “I’m at a loss and don’t know what I should do. The lawyer wasn’t much help but at least I know my legal rights. He thinks I should talk to the reporter to keep the record straight. That way they can’t go making up stuff that isn’t true. What do you think? Should I leave for awhile and not be found or what?” His frustration was gaining momentum the longer he talked about it. Sally was the first to speak, “I know that you aren’t going to like this one bit, but my guides have shown me the outcome if you talk to the reporter. You will be pleased to know that the picture they presented to me was a very happy one. You were acknowledged for the work that you’ve done and your manuscript was published. You were on the board of a very prestigious institution and seemed very happy to be back in the scientific community.” Jim just looked at her. He wasn’t convinced that she was that good of a psychic so he turned to Calli for her confirmation. “I can see by the look on your face that you don’t believe Sally. I understand, over the years I’ve been very skeptical of her predictions but I have to tell you that she’s always been right with everything she’s ever told me. Sometimes the journey to the outcome takes some twists and turns but in the end the results manifest.”
Not wanting to discount Calli’s testimonial Jim asked Sally specific questions about her vision. She gave him as many details as she could. After about twenty minutes, he seemed satisfied. “I’m not happy about doing this but if what you say happens I guess I’ll have to at least give it a shot. I love being here and working in my orchard and my gardens. But I also loved the scientific community until they threw me out. There is something about connecting with intelligence from another galaxy that gives me hope for our future. I am one of those people who believe that we will have contact with other races of people, and not the kind that we see in movies who want to dominate us and take over our world. The more I hear myself talk about it the easier it seems it might be to see where this takes me. Although I’d prefer to stay here and keeping enjoying my life, it’s becoming very special to me now.” With that said, he looked at Calli with the most loving expression she’d ever seen. Her heart flipped in her chest and her mouth went dry, unable to speak. “Well, I’d better get back to work, and leave you two love birds alone so you can plan your future.” With that said, Sally left them sitting there holding hands and staring into each other’s eyes.
Calli wasn’t hungry after her cherry turno
ver, but Jim was famished. He’d
skipped breakfast because he’d been so nervous about his meeting with the lawyer. He hated working with the court system, and didn’t like lawyers very much, although this guy in Evergreen seemed okay. After they ordered some lunch, Jim began to tell Calli more details about his life as a scientist. She listened with both ears and her heart wide open. She had to understand what this life had been like for him. Especially since Sally predicted that he’d return to being a scientist. She was trying to see
if
she would fit into that lifestyle. Listening and praying that he still though
t
he was falling in love with her, she questioned if that would be true in another location. Here in Evergreen, life was simple, easy and relaxed. Being in a big city with the pressures of city life just didn’t fit in her makeup. But she knew deep in her heart that she was also falling for Jim. What would happen to her fantasy?
A
stranger walked into the Burger Barn and started asking questions of the waitress. Calli noticed him right away. He didn’t look like he was from around here, and she was almost certain that he was the reporter that Jim wanted to avoid. As she watched them talking, she saw her point to the table they were sitting at. She was right. The stranger was walking towards them. Calli wanted to shout to Jim, ‘run’! And she wanted to run with him, as far away as possible so they could live here in her happy ever after world. Jim noticed the guy just as he came up to the table, “Excuse me, but are you Jim Wild?” Jim caught the panic on Calli’s face and understood that she was about ready to get up and run away. He grabbed her hand to keep her there beside him, “Yes, I am. And who might you be?” The stranger smiled looking pleased to have located him so easily, “I’m Brent Williams from The Baltimore Sun. I hope you received my call and the letter we sent. I don’t want to alarm you in any way. But my paper is very interested in your discovery of the code of communication. May I join you?” Again Calli felt the impulse to escape, but Jim held her hand tighter almost understanding what she was thinking. “Yes, please sit down. Would you like something to eat?” Calli could not understand why he was being so polite and nice to this guy, the one who was going to destroy their dream life together. “Thanks, I am hungry, it was a long flight and then the rental car wasn’t ready. It’s a nice little town you have here. Very different from the city.” The pleasantries continued while Brent
and Jim ordered and ate their
lunch. “Well, I’m sure you are wondering exactly what I’m looking for. And I want to assure you that my intentions are purely scientific, I don’t want to delve into your personal life or the tragedy of your wife and daughter
’
s death.” With that Jim knew that from this moment on his life was going to change, nothing was going to remain the same and he prayed that somehow Calli would be able to change with him or his heart was going to be shattered once again.
Brent knew that this wasn’t going to be his easiest interview of his career, but he also knew it was goi
ng to be his best, one that would
probably win him an award if he was careful and didn’t spook Jim. Learning how to work with reluctant people had been a trial by fire in his first few years, but now he had enough compassion and understanding to not be pushy like he had been before. He knew that what he wrote changed peoples’ lives and he
understood that most people were
very content with the status quo. But this story was different, it was going to change everyone’s’ lives, not just Jim and his friends but everyone on the entire planet. He had to create a relationship with Jim, and build his trust so that he could write this from the human angle. Not the scientific angle. There were already plenty of stories and fake movies about
contact with aliens, but here was
a guy who actually found a way to do that. It was unfortunate that he’d been abused by his peers. That was going to be part of the exposé and he knew just how to make it pop. First things first, get to know Jim and his friends, become trustworthy and
then he’d get all that he wanted
. There was something special about this little town, he hadn’t just been saying that to get them to like him, he truly did like Evergreen, even the name was appropriate. People were very friendly, they spoke to him when he walked around, and smiled, waved when he was driving his car. The
clerk at the motel had given him
some discount coupons for the local movie theatre, nothing like Baltimore, nothing at all. There were some days that he longed for a simpler life, but that would have to wait until he had his story, the one that was going to make him famous. He hoped it was enough so he could relax and maybe find a small town like this and start his own newspaper just like his grandfather had done so many years ago.
Jim had invited him out to his farm; this was a good start, getting to know him on his home turf. He hoped that this would help him write the story with the right perspective, noted scientist loses his position, family and escapes to rural America where he grow
s
apples and vegetables. Seems like a slam dunk. When Brent arrived at the farm, he was amazed at how beautiful the setting was. Everything was well groomed and the buildings and house were freshly painted, nothing seemed out of place. Here’s a man who knows how to make everything work together and look good. He found Jim in
his garden destroying some weeds with a vengeance
. “Hi, hope you don’t mind me coming out here.” Jim stood up from his
hoeing and leaned on the hoe to rest. “Nope, this is a back breaking job but there’s no one else to get rid of these pesky weeds, they think they can have all the moisture when my vegetables need it more. Would you like to have a seat on the porch, we can talk
there and I could use the rest?
I do need to harvest some vegetables for the farmers market tomorrow, so we can talk for a little while and then I have to get back to work.” “Farmers market? That sounds like something I’d like to see. Would you mind telling me about it and how you make a living growing vegetables?” Jim was surprised at this, he expected him to dig right into his story, and instead it felt like he wanted to get to know him. That was a twist he hadn’t planned upon. Jim was hoping to make this whole event be short and sweet and over this afternoo
n; then he could get back to his
life, the one here that he loved. Brent had other ideas, and he wanted to know Jim on a personal level before he tapped into his scientific mind. Jim proceeded to tell him how he found this small acreage for sale, the apple orchard had been neglected for years, the couple he bought it from had moved into assisted living and none too soon. The house and buildings were in disrepair and needed a lot of paint and fixing. He spent the first couple years rebuilding
the house and buildings
and nurturing the orchard. His apples were doing well now and he had plenty to sell to the local grocery store and keep for himself. Only a couple years ago did he have the time to begin to grow vegetables. And this seemed to be his passion. Planting and nurturing and harvesting and watching people be so excited to buy what he had grown. Somehow he felt that they knew how much love he put into growing them. It was like a partnership he had with nature and this kept him grounded, far away from the stars and the scientific community.