Dream Confirmation Bias

I

The day was cloudy. It seemed as if depression personified was about in the air.

Everything was gloomy to Josh. For him, the only brightness was in the dark of sleep.

School was over. He had managed to pass, and with decent enough grades. He had decided to take a year off, and try out odd jobs before leaving for college. He was returning from one such job hunt, at the local McDonald's. He had been rejected -- partly because he had not been "cheerful" enough, partly because he had abused the manager for giving him such a reason for not hiring him.

Even his dreams had abandoned him now. Walking home, he mused on the "good old days" when he got to see himself getting decapitated, or stabbed, or getting his head blown off. It had been all a little funny to him.

Lost in thought, he walked. Aimlessly.

Until he suddenly realised that he was standing right in the middle of the road.

An electric blue pickup truck was hurtling towards him.

For him, time slowed down, and he had the strangest feeling of deja vu.

The electric blue pickup truck hurtling towards him was the same one he had seen in his dream. The very first one. He could remember it like it was yesterday.

He did not fear death. His pathetic life had not been one worth living anyway. He did not move a muscle. This was how it was supposed to end. He was going to fulfill his dream.

And yet... It did not end like he would have wished.

A man pushed him away just in time.

Josh tripped and fumbled and turned around only to see his rescuer get mowed down by the pickup.

All around was chaos. There was screaming and yelling and shouting. There was also a lot of blood. The police arrived at the scene, an ambulance was called.

Running towards the scene, Josh saw  the man's head smashed on one side, and he could see his brains on the tarmac. The blue pickup had tried to speed away, but had been stopped by the cops.

Josh was not too startled by the sight of the dead man, owing to the fact that he had seen himself die too many times.

People from the crowd yelled insults at Josh.

"Irresponsible jackass," said one.

"Asshole," said another.

However, Josh knew that it was all for nothing. The man was dead, just like he himself had been in his dream. The man, in death, had taken his place. It was meant to happen. What other explanation was there?