Daniel was just another exhausted man, trying not to unravel in public. And now here he was, being kicked repeatedly by a stranger’s child on a train he had paid extra for, because he thought—naively—that he deserved a bit of quiet. Another kick. This one landed like punctuation at the end of his thoughts.
He turned again, more sharply this time, and glanced back over the seat. The boy was still at it. Tap, tap, tap. But it was the mother that drew his eye. She wasn’t even pretending to supervise. One earphone was now out, dangling lazily from her ear.