Mute | Adopted by Scarlett Johansson

Arlo

Every time the kids at the orphanage were going to get a visitor they would tell all of the kids ahead of time so that they had a sufficient amount of time in order to "prepare" themselves. Arlo didn't really know how they were supposed to be getting ready, even after 5 years of this, but the caretakers always made such a big fuss during the lead up to a visit. This time is like all of the others, nothing is different and nothing will be different, Arlo knew she would still be here by the end of today and here is where she believed she would stay until she was too old. During her time here she had seen many other kids come and go. People seem to like the kids that talk better than the ones that don't. She didn't really mind though, she could find nothing to really complain about.

The kids were woken up earlier than normal today so that the older kids could shower if they wanted to, the little kids usually have baths before bed, and so that they had enough time to clean their shared rooms, making everything look as perfect as possible. Arlo didn't like getting visitors mainly due to the fact that she didn't think anyone would ever adopt her, so she found that all of this fuss was unnecessary and a waste of her time, not that she had much else to do on a daily basis.

On a normal week day here at the orphanage the children are awoken at 7:00 AM and are expected to get dressed for the day before they all go down for breakfast, which they are allowed to have between 7:10 AM and 7:45 AM. This means that the dining hall is never too packed and is kept relatively calm in the mornings. Usually Arlo went right when breakfast started as this was the quietest time and it was easier for her to get away with sitting alone, not having to talk to anyone. It wasn't as if the kids here were all horrible to her, they were all nice enough to her and she never really got any trouble from anyone when she doesn't answer them back with her voice. The teachers tried to teach everyone else sign language but it proved to be a difficult task for them to learn it and remember to use it, so normally the others just avoided having a conversation with Arlo, which was fine by her, she prefers to be left with her own thoughts than have to make small talk with the other kids about things that she does not actually care about.

After breakfast they have their lessons for the day, basic boring school work, which they do at the orphanage, which is actually pretty big, so they don't have to send a bunch of kids on buses to different schools. Arlo liked doing school, but she found that most of the time it was too easy so she would get bored and stare off into space or look out the window and watch the birds fly by freely, sort of envying them in a way. They have 6 individual lessons in each day, each lasting an hour, with a 20 minute break after the first two hours and then another 40 minutes for lunch after the next two hours. Lunch was usually a bit more busy but if the weather was good they were allowed to sit outside and eat their food, which Arlo did as often as she could with her nose stuck in a book.

After all their lessons were done for the day, they got a few hours of free time, where they were allowed to do pretty much anything they wanted. This was Arlo's favourite part of the day because she got to do the things that she liked the most and usually she was not often disturbed by anyone, free to live inside her own mind for a few hours. She liked music, so a lot of the time you could find her playing the piano or really any instrument she could get her hands on. Even if she didn't know how to play it, she liked to learn, but she thought she was best at piano, although obviously not the best in the world.

After free time they all have dinner together, which can get a bit overwhelming because of the sudden rush of kids all sat inside the dining hall. This is the part of the day that Arlo usually dreaded the most as it meant that she would have to sit with the other kids and listen as they talked and talked about nothing of any importance. After this, they are all sent to their rooms to get ready for bed, making sure their teeth and hair are brushed and then one of the caretakers comes around, at different times, all depending on age, to each room making sure everyone is settled, taking any electronic devices, like phones and laptops, off of the ones that have them and then turning out the lights.

Arlo knew today won't be much different from this.