In the throes of an intense settlement negotiation yesterday, my phone rings. It is my secretary who wants me to know that someone in my office, one of my colleagues with whom I am not exactly close, was looking for me and was very upset. “He said he needs to speak to you right away!” was how she phrased it. This is someone who has not needed to speak to me in years and in fact seems to go out of his way to avoid it at all costs. For instance, when we are walking down the hall, facing eachother, he suddenly develops an unavoidable urge to inspect the carpet or to visit the pens in the supply room to avoid making eye contact or having to say hello. Curious, I called him at the next break in the action. “This may sound strange,” he said, “but hear me out on this.” He then proceeded to tell me how, while he does not claim to be clairvoyant, he has, in the past, had feelings about things that, within a few hours or days, came to pass. He told me about a dream that his neighbor’s barking beagle died and within days, both barking and beagle ceased. He told me about his disquiet at leaving a female colleague working late without an escort to her car, only to find out the next day that she had been mugged and almost abducted from the parking garage. The stage set, credentials established, he announced that he had a very vivid dream about me.
“I just thought you should know because, well, it didn’t turn out very well.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you didn’t make it.”
“What do you mean, ‘didn’t make it’? Didn’t make what,” I asked.
“You died.”
“I died?”
“Yes, so you should be careful.”
I don’t think of myself as a particularly superstitious person but I must admit that this has me a bit creeped out. I mean, this guy is no Professor Trelawney. He was right about the other stuff, including the beagle. Great. One more thing to worry about.