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Intuition is science. It is what happens when the brain sees two or more incongruous details and a narrative in the subconscious cannot be established. We pause before crossing a road and barely avoid getting killed by a motorcycle, or take the stairs rather than sharing a lift with a stranger who turns out to have murdered a nun. The story told afterwards is that a mystical force from the future sent a warning in the form of a feeling. Fear as foresight. We believe we are in tune with the transcendent. But this is bullshit. The only truth is that each sense is alive to narratives where pieces are missing, and we are very good at filling in the gaps. So. I know why I turned to examine the long nylon bag rather than chucking the laundry into the tumble dryer and leaving. But it was only after I touched the bag that I consciously spotted the Christmas tree in pieces by the garage door, its branches arranged at odd angles. My peripheral vision must have clocked the tree and sent a signal: something is out of place.
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