"A Presentiment" by William Dean Howells — Review

"A Presentiment" by William Dean Howells is a clever story that feels like a ghost story but ends with a smart, logical twist. It starts with a husband and wife ready to leave for a trip. Suddenly, the wife is struck by a powerful feeling of doom, convinced their train will crash. Her fear is so strong that her practical husband agrees to delay their trip for a day—and they later discover their original train did indeed crash. 

The real genius of the story is its ending, where Howells explains the "miracle." The wife’s premonition wasn't magical at all. It came from her subconscious mind reacting to a late-delivered telegram she held but didn't read; the bad news in the message made her feel dread. This twist isn't disappointing but satisfying, as it turns the story into an exploration of how our brains work. It shows how intuition can be our subconscious picking up on real clues, not a supernatural force.

Here is the text of the story:
https://short-stories.co/@m.r.james/the-residence-at-whitminster-e0kl1d680lxp