Mute | Adopted by Scarlett Johansson

Mrs Moore

Mrs Moore had been working at the orphanage for many years before Arlo showed up at their door. She loved taking care of the kids there and watching some of them get adopted and find new families. There were a few cases where the kids came back but she always did as much as she could to help those kids through those difficult times. When Arlo came, it turned a lot of things upside down. They had never had a child who was mute and so they didn't really know the best way to deal with it. However, they managed to figure it out after a while, not before learning sign language and treating the situation with care, trying not to push her to talk as they knew that if they did, they would never be able to gain her trust.

In the end, there were only a few caretakers that Arlo really trusted, Mrs Moore being the main one. She didn't mind though as even though the child never said a word to her, she didn't need her to. The two could sit and chat with their sign language for hours on end. In fact, Mrs Moore could probably call herself Arlo's closest friend, although Arlo meant a lot more to her than that.

There were many times, in the middle of the night, where Arlo would come knocking on Mrs Moore's bedroom door, tears staining her cheeks. Those nights were hard to deal with as not only did Mrs Moore hate seeing the poor girl in this state, but it was also hard to communicate with each other. When Arlo would be crying hysterically she didn't have the energy to use sign but also when her eyes where filled with tears and her vision was blurry it would be hard to see if Mrs Moore was trying to sign something to her, which she usually did instead of talking to Arlo to make the girl feel more comfortable. On these nights, neither of the two would end up with much sleep, but that wasn't important, especially to Mrs Moore, when their bond would be a little bit stronger each time.

When Mrs Moore thinks about all of these hard situations that the two had been through, it never outweighs the happy memories that they have shared. Not a lot of people in this world could confidently say that they have ever heard Arlo laughing or giggling, it's safe to say that it is one of the best sounds in the world and when she smiles it brings so much joy to Mrs Moore that she can't help but smile too.

At the top of all of this, there has been one memory that stands out, miles above all others. It was a moment Mrs Moore would never forget in her life. It all started with one of the dreaded nightmares, Arlo knocked on the door crying uncontrollably. Mrs Moore didn't hesitate to take the girls hand and lead her to the bed. Together they sat at the edge, in silence, while Arlo's sniffles became less and less frequent, while Mrs Moore rubbed small circles on the back of the child's hand. After a few moments of this, Arlo sat up on her knees and spun her body round to face Mrs Moore's and, losing no time, threw herself into a hug. Mrs Moore gladly accepted and reciprocated the hug, bringing the small body in closer to her and squeezing her tighter. And that's when it happened, when the two of them were so close to each other, Mrs Moore heard a tiny whisper,
"Thank you", so small that she thought she'd imagined it. Mrs Moore pulled Arlo away from her gently, so she could look at her face, smiling so wide that her cheeks were starting to hurt. Arlo looked into Mrs Moore's eyes and smiled too and shortly after, the two were hugging again, wishing this moment could last forever, in each others embrace.

It was because of this relationship that Mrs Moore couldn't help but feel a little saddened by the news that Arlo could be leaving her but what she felt more than this was pride. She was incredibly proud of that little girl and how strong she was and she knew that this could be one of the best things for Arlo and her future. Obviously she would miss her incredibly but that would be nothing compared to the joy she felt for knowing Arlo and getting to be part of her life, even if it would be a relatively short amount of time.