The toddler began to scream, a sound like a hawk being fed into a woodchipper. "C-one-one-four!" the speaker barked.
The clerk behind the glass looked at him with eyes that had seen the death of stars. She didn't speak. She just pointed to a small sign taped to the glass: 5 : Hell Is Other People
Elias closed his eyes and tried to find his "inner temple," as his therapist suggested. But the temple was being invaded. A teenager three seats down was watching TikToks at full volume without headphones—a relentless loop of high-pitched laughter and distorted bass. Behind him, two elderly women were having a shouting match about their respective gallbladder surgeries. The toddler began to scream, a sound like
He looked at his ticket: .The red digital display on the wall read: B-002 . She didn't speak