Tourists and Toy Cars

The metro screeches. People wearing headphones are only posing, as almost nothing can be heard, especially when the train arches around corners.

A mother and her four-year-old son sit side-by-side near the door. He rolls a toy car and wears a red backpack. He crashes his car into the window with a bang, then his eyes grow wide. He smiles apologetically at his mother, but she hasn’t heard a thing. He tests this moment. He rolls his train against her purse, complete with sound effects for a serious handbag-to-car explosion, but she only smiles down upon him.

It’s a rare occasion for a well-behaved boy when making a racket is allowed. He delights in the opportunity! Tourists flinch at the metro’s scraping sounds, waiting to see the buildings that make visitors gasp, but no one even blinks at the happy little boy perched by his mother with his continuously combusting toy.

–Budapest, Hungary.

Budapest.