Intuition

My walks with Matilda take us by the Dorchester General Hospital. I've heard that they have a busy mental health ward. Our path takes us through the lit parking lot and into the park that abuts it. During the early morning and late evening hours, it is not uncommon to encounter someone who has been or should be a patient.

This morning, as we were walking, I saw a car parked near our normal path. The passenger door was open and I found that to be quite odd. I decided that we would take a right and walk towards the playground area of the park instead of left toward the open field. Matilda must have sensed my change of plan because instead of leading me left, as she does every morning, she pulled me right.

As we started for home, I heard a man screaming, but I couldn't make out what he was saying. I figured he was off of his meds and I decided to just keep it moving. But then I saw this dark blur coming towards us. And then there was a bark. Matilda went crazy. The dog ran towards us like we were a gang of cats or a wagon full of steaks. Matilda lunged toward the dog and started with her "I mean business" street fighter bark. The dog got to us so quickly and Matilda was jumping around so much that I couldn't pick her up. I just kept turning in circles and yelling "No!". Thankfully, the dog's owner was able to get the dog's attention through his indiscernible screams, and neither of the dogs were injured.

Something told me we shouldn't have walked near that car. If we had, that dog might've gotten to Matilda much faster and somebody might have gotten hurt.

Intuition is a powerful thing. Listen to it. It will never steer you wrong.