Carl Williams sank heavily into his cramped seat aboard the packed commercial airliner and squeezed his eyes shut, silently wishing the long cross-country journey ahead would pass in the blink of an eye. All he craved after a grueling work trip was a quiet, peaceful ride home with zero interruptions. Right as the aircraft cabin doors clicked shut and flight attendants began running through their pre-takeoff safety final checks, a sharp, sudden thud slammed into the back of his seat. He twisted around to find a young boy, no older than six or seven, seated directly behind him, wearing a cheeky, troublemaking smirk plastered across his face. Before Carl could even say a word, the boy lifted his small legs and kicked the back of his seat once again, hard and deliberate.
“Hey buddy, would you mind stopping kicking my seat please?” Carl asked in a warm, amicable tone, hoping a polite request would resolve the small issue before it blew up into something bigger. The boy’s mother sat right beside her son, completely buried in a glossy lifestyle magazine, totally oblivious to her child’s disruptive behavior. She didn’t glance up once, nor did she scold the boy or tell him to settle down in the slightest. The boy’s mischievous grin only grew wider as he tensed his little legs and landed another firm, forceful kick against Carl’s seatback.
Carl ground his teeth together, frustration bubbling up inside him. This was absolutely not how he’d planned to spend the next five long hours flying home. He debated tapping the boy’s mother on the shoulder and asking her to intervene, but he hesitated, not wanting to cause an awkward public scene in the middle of the crowded cabin. The plane rumbled faster and faster down the runway, lifting speed for takeoff, yet the nonstop kicking never ceased. Every single jolt jostled Carl’s seat forward, growing more irritating by the second. He took a deep, steadying breath and braced himself for the next inevitable kick, knowing deep down this flight was going to be far longer and far more miserable than he’d ever imagined.
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