The Goblin and the Child

The Goblin and I were on a tube out to Kings Cross station. I watched a delightful two-year-old black boy in a stroller. His mother stood behind him, engrossed in a text message. He looked around the carriage, smiling at all the passengers. He tried to start a conversation with the Goblin, who sat closest to him. The Goblin just glared at him and stared him down. The little boy, in his innocence, continued to chatter on to the Goblin, obviously unused to inhumanity, so I stepped in and had a lovely chat with him. He was smart and articulate and very sweet. Seeing that I had a rapport with the child, the Goblin wanted to bulldoze his way back in. He held up his hand and ordered the child to "High Five!" The boy didn't have a clue what the Goblin was talking about, so the Goblin said, "I'm surprised you don't know what 'High Five' means, with YOUR background!" There was a collective gasp through the entire carriage. The boy's mother looked up from her text message and her jaw dropped in disbelief. By now, the little boy had obediently raised his chubby little hand. The Goblin gave it a sharp slap and yelled, "High Five!" The boy was stunned, and I imagine also in some small degree of pain. Luckily, we had now arrived at their station and the mother wheeled the kid out of the carriage. 

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