Owl Omen

I wait until I’m on the subway train to type into the search bar, “what does it mean when an owl chases you in a dream”. Millions of results pop up.

I scroll through and see owls symbolize wisdom, owls are positive omens, and owls are signs of knowledge. That’s good, and reassuring. But, when I woke up from my dream this morning, I didn’t feel good.

I keep scrolling and see “insinuating possible dangers”, now that’s more aligned with how I feel. I see posts mentioning difficulties, and others mentioning death.

Shifting uncomfortably in my seat and looking around, I try to assess the possible dangers around me. It’s the subway, I guess there are always dangers. I could be pushed on the track, I could be mugged, the train could crash or break down, the ground could cave in and bury everyone alive. I’m freaking myself out and starting to feel claustrophobic. I’m seven stops away from the station by my office. Miles of opportunity for something to happen, I need to chill.

But, I also need to know. I go back to the search bar and type in “owl omen”. It says in some cultures owls signify death, that they’re messengers of death, harbingers of death. I don’t even know what a harbinger is. Shit, am I going to die?

Five stops left and then I’ll at least be out of the subway. Then I’ll be on the streets. I could still be mugged, or something could fall from a building, or I could get hit by a bus, people always get hit by buses in movies.

I need to relax, I’m fine. I turn on the breathing exercise on my watch and breathe in, and exhale out. Breathe in, and exhale out. I do that for a minute. It doesn’t help.

I type in the search bar “positive owl omens” and exhale when I see a list of good omens. It does say stuff about danger, but one of the results says whatever danger it is can be overcome. So maybe it’ll just be a challenge or something. One article link mentions a transition, like a death of something current and forcing something new. Maybe I’m getting fired today and it’ll be something I can overcome by getting a new job. I’d prefer that over getting hit by a bus and overcoming the months of recovery.

Three more stops and I keep scrolling through the good owl omens and I’m feeling better. But, then I remember that when I woke up this morning I didn’t feel good about the dream. I can’t ignore my intuition. Owls also signify intuition. Wisdom and intuition, and it would be unwise to not listen to my intuition of how I felt after the dream, which was negative and not good. I retype “bad owl omens” into the search bar.

The first thing I see this time is a result saying it’s all a myth. That owls being omens of death or bad luck is a myth. It says they’re like the black cat or the broken mirror myth, and it’s all superstition. Thank God, that’s probably why I felt bad this morning when I woke up. I don’t necessarily believe in superstitions, but when a black cat crosses my path I do feel a little eerie.

I put on my headphones, feeling much better about the day. I blast my favorite song to truly get rid of my uneasy feelings as the train pulls up to my station. I file along with the crowd out of the train then up and out of the subway. Everyone disperses in our different directions, and I walk to the nearest crosswalk and wait for the signal to walk.

I pull my phone out of my pocket to update my status. I start typing, “Had a dream about an owl chasing me and the Internet tried to convince me it was an omen of death. Turns out it’s all a superstitious myth. Thank God.” I press “post” and look up from my phone.

The bad feeling I had when I woke up immediately returns, as I make eye contact with the owl tattoo on the neck of the man standing in front of me.