A couple of years back, my friend asked me if I could join him on a trek. I agreed, but the day before the planned trek, I felt like there was something about the idea that made me uneasy. I apologized to him about ten times when I said I couldn’t come, even though he kept telling me it was fine.

He told me he would take his cousin instead. I called him a few days later to ask him if he wanted to come to a movie to make up for it. He didn’t reply. I decided to let it be, with the intentions of calling him the next day.

That night, while I was finishing my dinner, I turned on the tv to watch the local news. The first thing that caught my eye was his name. Him, along with his cousin, had been killed in an accident the way to the trek.