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“Whatcha thinking about so hard? Huh?”

“Your mom.”

Hazel sputters, almost tripping over her own feet. She straightens, looking at me in wonder. “Did you just make a joke? And a ‘your mom’ joke, no less? Who are you and what have you done with my father?”

“What? I don’t understand that reference,” I admit. “I was literally thinking about your mother, Helen.”

Hazel seems to deflate. “Oh,” she says softly. Then she adds, “well knock it off. You look super serious right now. We’re about to embark on a life changing experience and I will not have you harshing the vibe.”

“Harshing the vibe,” I whisper to myself.

Nothing quite makes me feel as old as listening to my kid’s lingo and trying to understand it.

“I’m so excited,” Hazel says, doing a little skip as she walks. “I know you don’t have any magical abilities but what if I inherited something from my mother? Maybe I can see soul ties just like her.”

Emotion makes my chest tight. I put my hand on Hazel’s arm, sliding it down until we’re holding hands. I give it a little squeeze. “That would be wonderful, baby girl,” I tell her, trying to keep emotions out of my voice. “Helen used to say it was something she had to actively work at to keep it manifested. Maybe you just haven’t learned how to practice yet and these people we’re seeing will help with that.”

“I hope so. I’m trying to keep my expectations in check though. I don’t want to leave super disappointed.”

I give her another squeeze. “No matter what happens, we’ll go get ice cream.”

“For breakfast?”

I nod my head. “For breakfast.”

“Hell yeah!”

The two of us start to plan what kind of ice cream sundae we’ll get when we’re done with this meeting. We round a corner, catching a glimpse of the line that’s already outside the building up ahead. We’re less than a block away from The Screaming Owl.

The wind picks up for a moment and a shiver runs through me.

A bird startles from where it’s perched on a ledge. It flies right in front of us and we have to take a step back to get out of the way. Hazel’s hand is warm in my own but after being startled like this, she lets go in order to clutch at her chest.

I don’t understand the memory that’s just flashed inside my head. Was that a dream? Is my imagination running wild? What’s going on?

The sound of a bird squawking hits my ears and a moment later, to our right, a bird jumps up off the ledge of a building. It flies right in front of us, forcing the two of us to take a step back in order to dodge its wings. Hazel lets go of my hand, touching her chest and letting out a deep sigh.

“Holy shit! That was a close one!” She turns to where the bird has flown away. “What’s the rush?”

I stand there, my mouth open in shock.

What the hell was that? I get a deep sense of deja vu, like somehow I knew that was going to happen, like I’d seen it all before. Was that what my dream was about this morning before I forgot it? What this something else entirely, like I had a moment similar to this happen in the past and now I’m tricking myself into believing I’m reliving the moment?

I shake my head, trying to get this weird sensation out of my chest.

“Come on, Dad,” Hazel says, grabbing my wrist and dragging me forward. “I can’t believe the line is so long already!”

I do my best to stay present but I can’t stop thinking about what just happened. How the hell did I know the bird was going to fly past like that? Why does all of this feel vaguely familiar?

While we wait, one of the workers comes outside, taking people’s orders on a little handheld device.

“Can I please have a pumpkin spiced latte?" Hazel orders.

“I’ll just take a hot chocolate,” I tell the worker, pulling out my wallet.

“Sorry, card only,” the worker explains, holding up the little handheld device.

For some weird reason, I think I knew that. I pull out my debit card, paying for our drinks. Today is such a strange day.