| °♡° | MUTE | °♡° | A NOVEL | °♡° |

♡ Prologue ♡

It was a bright summer day, the warm sun beamed down on the thick emerald green grass, on a quaint little white house on a small dead-end road, a cul-de-sac, in an angelic way as the white puffy clouds floated without a care in the sky, as if having all the time in the world. 

The thick and lush Kentucky bluegrass made the ground a plush rug to walk upon barefoot. This was due to how much care was put into the yard by the owner of this house. It didn't stand out from the neighbors' yards, all were clean-cut and well-manicured.

Many bright-colored flowers swayed in a rhythmic dance in the gentle breeze, keeping their rhythm with the bright green trees and other towering green plants. Each of the trees was pruned and carefully cut to make them look flawlessly perfect to look at. 

The blossoms that bloomed on a few of the magnolia trees sent a heavenly sweet and clean scent traveling through the air. It was quite a calming effect, like that sweet smell of perfume on someone who you would walk past in a store.

Bees buzzed and butterflies fluttered from flower to flower resting lightly on them, collecting pollen, and pollinating each one that they landed on as they went around their work. This made more flowers grow and gave us honey from the bees, which we can all thank them for. They carried on as if nothing could bother them.

Bright-colored birds sang in the trees, harmonizing and creating a sweet, melodious euphony, which was occasionally interrupted by a catbird butted in, making the delightful assembly sound like an off-musician. Many wished the bird would keep quiet or fly away, so its horrible noise would go away. Yet the bird was not aware of how it was making a ruckus, nor did it care. It was doing what it had been made to do, singing in its way, making it unique and special.

Mailee Son, a young child, almost five, with shoulder-length black hair with bangs on her forehead, and warm brown eyes, crawled on the ground, seeming to be very interested in her shadow that was cast onto the grass. Every time the child tried to touch it, it would move with her body, making her frustrated. It was like a dog chasing its tail, not realizing that they weren't going to get it.

The young mother, Chae-Yeon Son, who was gardening, had brown colored hair and bright brown eyes she glanced over at her daughter, giving a small laugh as she saw how frustrated she was. The poor girl looked like she was going to start to cry, her face looking so broken and upset. 

She took off her gloves as she walked over. "Oh Mailee, honey, it is just your shadow." She then sat down, picking up the small child and setting her on her lap. She pressed a soft kiss onto her forehead, then ran a hand through her hair.

Mailee, reached her little hands up to her mom, slightly wiggling her fingers with bright shining eyes, opening her mouth like most kids would do to talk, but nothing came out. It seemed she was trying to speak, but them not hearing her words, was worrisome to the young parents. Whenever a parent saw something that wasn't /normal/ you tended to worry about the health of their child.

Chae-Yeon had been to so many doctors, none saying there was anything wrong. Everyone said she had slow motor skills or even a slight learning disability, and that she was just "lagging" a bit. 

But by the age of three, there shouldn't be any lagging, every kid by three can speak, even if it's just mumbling. "Oh, come on honey, say something for mama?" She was at her wit's end not knowing what was going on. Her daughter hadn't said a word, of course, that was worrisome.