By Donna Roger

In the mid-1980s, I began working in a large reputable company, starting my career in the administrative assistant field. During its heyday, this company employed over 10,000 employees, and it was actively hiring to support its rapid expansion at various locations throughout New England. Prior to my working there, a former co-worker, whom I will name Helen, also began working there, and our starting dates were closely similar and in the same building. And as time went on, Helen’s daughter, whom I will name Julie, began to work in our building. These women are the characters within this true story.

Although Julie and I were not close friends, we were familiar enough, mostly waving and saying hello to each other each morning as we passed in the hallway coming and going to the cafeteria. I remember this one morning when Julie and I passed by each other. We waved and said our usual hellos, yet I noticed that her face seemed a little pale, while she did not respond with her usual polite smile. Her behavior was noticeably different, but because I did not know her that well, I chose not to ask her any personal questions. I shrugged it off and, with my coffee mug in hand, I proceeded towards my desk station, which was located on the first floor. And to further add to this story, Julie’s desk station was located directly above mine on the second floor with a similar desk station and office layout.

During that afternoon, while sitting at my desk, a sudden vision of Julie popped into my head. To better describe this vision, it was like a movie film clip. I could see Julie quickly rise from her chair, turn around to her wastebasket, and bend over to vomit in it. The vision vanished as quickly as it appeared. This stopped me in my tracks as I questioned what I had just experienced. I had heard about psychics having visions, yet never fully understood what they meant exactly. I believe I may have experienced something similar that day.

I now became preoccupied with what had just happened to me and decided to take a work break and visit Helen, who also worked on the second floor. She and I were closer because of our previous workplace relationship, so I visited her often to check in. I believe I had planned to mention to Helen that Julie did not look well to me that morning and see where the conversation went. But no sooner did I step up to Helen’s desk than she began, “Oh, you would not believe what happened to Julie. She recently became ill and threw up into her wastebasket. She went home a little while ago.” 

I stood there looking at Helen and didn’t immediately respond, while I silently asked myself, “Did I just hear her correctly? No way!” I eventually said something to the effect, “Poor thing. I did see her this morning in the hallway, and she did look a little pale to me.” I never shared my vision of Julie with Helen, and our chat eventually ended. I went back to my workstation and was very preoccupied with the idea that what I visioned really did happen. I rationalized somehow; I was just hypersensitive to Julie that day. And several days later, I heard that Julie learned she was pregnant, which explains it must have been morning sickness she was experiencing.

When I review my life these days, I can pinpoint other instances where my gut intuition has always guided me with choices that I have made. To say that I have psychic abilities is a stretch. But it is true that we all have some type of psychic ability or strong intuition. One thing is, Helen and Julie have never heard me tell this story. And because their names have been changed and our workplace company name is not revealed here, they will never know of this. But the desire to share this story has been growing in me over the years. Life is full of mysteries, and I do believe this is one of them.

© 2025 Donna Roger

Donna recently retired after a long career in administrative and clerical work. She and her husband of 44 years live in Florida. Choosing not to have children, Donna focused on financial independence and steady employment in administrative work. Years ago, she took a creative writing course and enjoyed it, but didn’t pursue writing until later in life. As retirement approached, she began reflecting on unusual life events—moments that might have ended badly but didn’t. Her fascination with these experiences led her to write them down. This is her first story published beyond Facebook.