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He stood in front of the window looking down at his phone while he waited for the microwave to beep. He started clicking from link to link, reading news and watching videos.

He found himself on a Wikipedia page listing tragic train crashes. As he browsed, he noticed one crash on the list with his small home state’s abbreviation next to it.

He read that the crash in his home state took place in his hometown. One article said it happened at a rail crossing that intersects with the street that he lived on.

He looked up and out the window, and noticed that from where he stood he could see an intersection with a traffic light and a train crossing gate. It occurred to him that he was looking at the site of the crash and spontaneously learning about it in the exact same moment, as though it were a bubble springing from a pot of boiling water—wanting to be thought about.