1. Flight to New York

“Look,” I said, “Here’s the people on the plane, and she says, ow, my back hurts and he’s getting something down from an overhead locker, and here’s a monster, raaar! I think it’s a possum. And here’s a telephone, ring ring! Quick! Switch it off! And look, it’s a baby! And all the people are going oh, no, a baby, and what’s she putting on the baby’s face? Don’t worry. And here’s a boat! And it goes splash splash and all the boats sail away from the plane hooray and here’s a lady saying look, I’ve made a slide! Like in the park! And hooray! We all go down the slide. And she says, come on everyone let’s go down the slide, and they go hooray! And then they run! And – ”

On the flight to New York, Charlie had absolutely no interest in any of the books or toys or boxes of sultanas that I’d brought along to keep him entertained.
The only thing that made him happy was the Emergency Information Card, over and over, at high speed.