Patterson's Wager

One moment Charles (Fred Ewanuick) is alone in his living room, down on one knee practicing his proposal, the next moment there’s rain and thunder and lightning, then a branch suddenly materializes out of nowhere and crashes to the floor in front of him. Then it all just disappears, just like that, leaving no trace behind. Before he’s able to process the bizarre event, it starts raining outside, only this time for real. Then there’s a huge crack of thunder, and a bolt of lightning suddenly shoots down and hits a tree across the street and a branch breaks off and falls to the ground. The next morning, Charles tells Audrey (Chelah Horsdal), his girlfriend, about what happened. He’s distraught at the possibility that he might have hallucinated, and that the hallucination could have dire medical implications. That the “vision” ended up coming true makes the whole thing even more confusing. Audrey tries to reassure him, and suggests that maybe he was just having a really strong case of déjà vu. Charles is adamant that this wasn’t the case. that it was a lot more real than any déjà vu he’d ever experienced before. Since they both aren’t willing to call it a supernatural premonition, neither has a valid explanation for what happened.Troubled by both his inexplicable experience and his indecision about how and when and if he should propose to Audrey, Charles returns to his job as an auto insurance adjuster – a position in which he is constantly required to assess the truthfulness of the people with whom he talks. Madeline (Gillian Barber), his co-worker, notices that something’s not right, and she asks if there’s anything she can do to help. Though he doesn’t tell her about his “vision,” Charles does tell her that he’s thinking of proposing to his girlfriend. She offers him some advice, and tells him not to worry too much about it, that he’ll know when it’s the right time. Two weeks pass without further incident. Charles is still anxious about his “condition,” but Audrey manages to convince him that it was a one-off event. Unfortunately, his relief is short-lived. On the way home from dinner, the couple pulls into a parking lot and Charles proceeds to have another vision. This time, however, it would appear that Charles can not only maybe see two minutes in the future, he might also be able to change it.