After we'd been driving a couple of hours, I started to feel uneasy. I couldn't explain what was wrong, but something was definitely wrong. I kept telling David something terrible was going to happen. An accident? A storm? I had no idea, but it kept getting stronger. I even thought it might be an alien sighting, it was that intense. When we were about halfway home, I made him pull into a rest stop. I was too jittery to go any further, on the verge of a panic attack. By then it was after midnight and it was obvious we weren't going to make it to work the next day.
We stayed at the rest area for about 3 hours. He kept saying, "Is it okay now?" And I kept saying, "Not yet!" Finally, around 1 a.m. or so, we decided to eat at the rest area restaurant. They had a full buffet and I had spaghetti and meatballs. It was great, especially in the middle of the night! After we had eaten, I felt better and we got back on the road.
It was a very strange and unsettling experience. The thing that I realized, though, was that if doom was going to get me, it could just as easily have happened at the rest area. When we pulled off the highway, were we avoiding it or driving to it?
It reminded me of this.
Appointment in Samarra
A merchant in Baghdad sends his servant to the marketplace for provisions. Soon afterward, the servant comes home white and trembling and tells him that in the marketplace, he was jostled by a woman whom he recognized as Death and she made a threatening gesture. Borrowing the merchant's horse, the servant flees at great speed to Samarra, a distance of about 75 miles, where he believes Death will not find him. The merchant then goes to the marketplace and finds Death, and asks her why she made the threatening gesture. She replies, "That was not a threatening gesture, I was just astonished to see him in Baghdad, because I have an appointment with him tonight in Samarra".
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| Doom, waiting... |
Sense of impending doom: You feel as though something extremely bad is going to happen, but you are not sure what. You may also feel as though your world or you life is going to end.