We were out driving in convoy on the weekend, with my parents-in-law following us in their large 4WD. As we passed a sporting oval, the road was lined with parked cars, leaving one full and one very narrow lane. I caught myself thinking, they are going to have an accident. So briefly, it was nearly a physical sensation, not a thought. Just then my husband made a comment, which distracted me just long enough to put it out of my mind.
Seconds later, we turned into the side street, and the car behind us disappeared from the rear view mirror.
Yes they’d had the accident. A very minor one (no one was hurt), but an accident nonetheless.
Which presents me with a quandary. Should I have attended to the whisper of a sensation and somehow warned the in-laws? Was that even possible? Say I had somehow managed within a few seconds to convince my husband to fumble for his phone, to ring his parents, to say something succinct enough to create the conditions to avoid the accident – what then? I would be a frootloop, right? (Warning somebody about an event that subsequently does not occur - because of that warning - is not a good way to establish yourself as a credible witness). What if I’d had the time to warn them and yet it still occurred? Then I would just be a freak. And not a helpful one, at that.
Not that it matters now. There wasn’t time to do anything except note the feeling. And politely keep my big (presentient) mouth shut after it all came to pass.
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