i sat across from them because i thought they were sweet
I board the train. A woman is hugged and caressed by her 6-year old daughter, both of them smiling, embracing. The girl is dressed adorably in a frilly skirt, white tights, sparkly Converse and a winter hat that looks like a leopard’s head with ears on top. What a happy family—
The woman turns her face up to the light and I notice a tear sliding down her cheek. She gently pushes the child away and without warning doubles over, head in her hands, sobbing. This goes on for minutes. People are uncomfortable. The little girl tries to console her, but seeing it’s no use, also begins to cry.
The woman is eventually offered a tissue from a stranger. Despite this, she remains bent and hidden from view, droplets hitting the floor now and then. The little girl has taken her hat off, put it by her feet - a decapitated leopard. Her hands are shoved in her coat pockets, she’s leaning back, staring at nothing. Her face hardened, she looks older by years.
