The Hug (Part I)

“Heeeey! I didn’t think you’d make it.” He wore a smile that lit up his whole face.

He reached in and gave me one of those squeezish hugs. Surprised, I took a second to relax into it. After all, this was a complete stranger I’d met on a bus. In the two weeks since we met, we’d only spoken once, and then it was to figure out the logistics of visiting his farm. And even then, it was only because a friend of mine was visiting the country and wanted to tour it. When we had met, I didn’t have any intention of visiting the farm.

But we hugged and something clicked. I knew it and I think he knew it too. For the rest of the afternoon, I was in a daze as we toured the farm. Every so often, he would pause in his narration of how the irrigation system worked, or why the Tilapia waste was a good source of fertilizer, to smile at me. I was giddy.