Too far deep.

The start of Charlotte Thatcher.

Charlotte is an orphaned girl from Children's Hope Orphanage, a orphanage that took her in when she was younger during a harsh winter after her poor father left her at their doorstep to die from hypothermia.

Charlotte grew up being treated like dirt, she hated it, they often commented on her looks, saying she was "ugly''. Whenever she was locked in her "room" as punishment for her behavior, she would often look at herself in the mirror. She believes she's average looking.

Charlotte has brunette hair that reaches her shoulders and brown eyes, though she looks malnourished for her age, having quite the skinny build that often got concerned looks at.

Charlotte was given dinner in her cold room, she felt bad as some kids from the orphanage often got treated like this due to their parents or relatives. After her dinner, she slept on a rickety bed and a moth eaten blanket that could barely warm her up and tried to sleep to experience another day tomorrow like usual. A few moments in, she felt herself drift to sleep, before she knew it, she fell asleep. She hoped that tomorrow will be a normal, hopefully.

It was 4:05 am. at Children's Hope Orphanage. Charlotte was still fast asleep before she was abruptly woken up by a harsh slap on her cheek, still adjusting her eyes to the light after she woke up, Charlotte sat up and took in the figures of the Heads of the Orphanage with some of the staff members. Charlotte's face suddenly drained of all its colour as she saw that one of the staff members was clutching her ripped bag that was now slightly filled.

She stood up and bowed deeply to the head of the orphanage, her shoulder-length hair just floating an inch or so above the floor. "You may rise, child." Said the head, his voice laced with disinterest as he saw the child cowering with fear.

Charlotte stood back straight and avoided eye contact with the head, He cleared his throat and said, "You are now 16, I'm afraid that your stay in the Children's Hope Orphanage has now expired and we will ask for you to leave, we have already packed your things." Now, gesturing to the slightly filled ripped bag that was in the hands of Mrs. Nora, a teacher who hated her guts very much, said in her disgustingly husky voice, "As to not disturb the other children, we decided to remove your insignificant presence from this orphanage at 4:10 am."

Charlotte looked up and began to protest, "but I have no family! I have nowhere to go!" She stared at the hideous smug face of Mrs. Nora, who was clearly enjoying the scene before her. The head of the orphanage got irritated, "How dare you raise your voice to your elders? With your attitude and immature behaviour, no other orphanage would take you in, no matter how much you beg!" The other staff members cackled, but Mrs. Nora's laugh was more excruciating to hear as she was laughing very loudly.

The head of the orphanage grabbed the bag from Mrs. Nora's hands threw it to Charlotte's face and watched her as she fell from the sudden weight from the bag. The head turned on his heel and walked towards the door but stopped suddenly and spoke in an emotionless tone, "You shall be out the gates of our noble orphanage in 5 minutes' time. If you do not, I shall grant Mrs. Amanda to forcibly remove your disgusting presence from our orphanage instead." He then continued walking, ignoring the other members as they jeered at Charlotte while walking out the door and shutting it loudly.

Charlotte sat there on the ground, clutching the bag near her side and sat up, stuffing the bag with more things she owned before walking outside her small bedroom. She owned a bedroom all to herself as the head was worried her presence might affect the other children.

More jeers and spit were thrown at her as she walked through the gates. As soon as she stepped a foot outside the gate, it was locked to avoid her coming in. She could hear cheers from behind her as she walked away from the orphanage. She walked for 30 minutes and took an abrupt turn to another street that was away from the orphanage.

The sun began rising, and more people began waking up and went outside. Others stared at her with pity, others with disgust, and others who paid no attention to her at all.
She kept walking, her mind slipping away from her head, her eyes not paying attention to the path ahead and made her legs just lead her to somewhere safe. She stopped near another orphanage but hesitated on asking and begging to be brought in, so she continued on walking for a few hours, to the point where she fell on the harsh, hot ground on a random neighbourhood she did not know existed. She looked down on her feet and saw that she had no shoes on, only thing she had on were socks and saw that it was slowly turning crimson from all the sharp rocks she probably stepped on.

She tried to stand but couldn't. Her feet were heavy, her vision blurry, and her stomach grumbling. She was tired, so she just laid down on the burning hot ground.

Charlotte heard shuffling of feet and looked to her side. She saw a middle-aged woman who was rushing to her side. She looked panicked and worried as she stared at the girl on the ground. She spoke in a calm, honey-sweet voice that almost lulled Charlotte to sleep.
"OH my... Young girl, are you okay? Please stand up. It's very hot outside! I'll bring you inside my house, please stand.." The woman ushered her to stand, but her legs were still heavy and were like jelly. The woman saw that and hurried to her side, gently holding Charlotte under her underarm to support her.

"Young girl, what is your name? You seem a bit young to be out here. Where are your shoes? Oh my.."
The woman said as she slightly tipped to the side to grab Charlotte's bag. She slowly helped Charlotte walk to her house, which was near, and once they reached the wooden door, the woman struggled to open the door for a bit before forcibly opening it and gently put Charlotte on her soft, woolen couch.

She took a deep breath and asked Charlotte, "Do you want tea? I'll bring some with first aid kit to help your feet." Charlotte blinked, and the woman was gone, hearing water running. She looked down at her bag. It was slightly hot as the bag was black. Before she knew it, the woman came back, in her hands steaming hot tea and a red first aid kit.

The woman started to introduce herself as she put the tea on the coffee table, "I'm Beatrice Thatcher, My husband, James Thatcher, is away on a trip right now. I take it you aren't from here, Young lady?"
Charlotte gulped before nodding and carefully took her tea, sipping on it slowly. She finished sipping her tea before looking at Mrs. Beatrice.

"I'm sorry for intruding in your house. I'm Charlotte, I don't have a last name. I was kicked out from the Children's Hope Orphanage at 4 am. Today." Mrs. Beatrice clasped her hands to her mouth before gently placing her hand on top of Charlotte's and said, "I apologise, dearie.. How about I adopt you? My husband and I weren't able to conceive a child every time we tried.. I'm sure he'll love you dearie.. He always wanted children more than I did.."
Charlotte was shocked. She couldn't believe her ears. Before she knew it, she was hugging Mrs. Beatrice, sobbing hopefully into her arms and yelling, "Yes! I want to be adopted by you, Mrs. Beatrice!"

She and Mrs. Beatrice cried into each others arms, hugging with each other as Charlotte has found a new family, a family that will love her unconditionally.