There are certain sensory cues that everyone encounters that instantly set off warning bells in the mind. Unexpected sounds - or the lack of expected sounds - are probably the easiest to think of. The ringing of a phone never sounds so urgent as it does in the middle of the night. The other senses have their places: reaching to touch a pet, only to find their side feels cool and stiff. The combination taste-smell of iron when blood has spilled. Visual cues, such as an arm or leg hanging at an odd angle.

Or reading the subject of email from your mom that simply states, “Grandpa Tom.” My eyes didn’t even need to read the Gmail preview of the body - I already knew what happened.

I read the email and sat back in my chair. “Huh. Wow.” I didn’t really have much of a reaction, though I was saddened to hear the news after not seeing my grandpa in probably ten years or more. Family dynamics aside [I don’t like Ardyce and she doesn’t like me, some other drama], I really liked Tom. The circumstances were just not conducive to a close relationship the for the last decade.

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