Mitch entered the Adoption hall. It was spacious, clean and empty except for the 3 chairs that weren't always there. Those chairs were always placed when someone gets adopted. During times when kids get adopted, they were allowed to watch at the back, standing. Cheers and shouts would always escape the kids' mouth but today it was silent. Both ends were occupied leaving Mitch to sit right between 0312 and 0918.
"Hi, I'm Martin, 13 years old." The guy sitting to the left of Mitch whispered in his ear.
Mitch looked at him and saw the numbers 0918 on his top clothing. He appeared to be shy as he kept fidgeting around.
"I'm Mitchell but you can call me Mitch." He whispered right back.
"And I'm 13 years old as well." He added.
After the introduction, the hall turned silent again to the point that it's deafening. Mitch looked over at the his right. A girl, approximately 15 years old. She looked timid as well. With her long black hair and cold expression she was like an ice princess who disdained common folks. Mitch didn't have the courage to ask her for her name because of it.
The sound of a locked mechanism being opened echo across the room that made the kids tense up. The door known as the 'Happy Future' was finally opened and a lanky tall man entered the hall. He had a white lab coat on and beneath it he was garbed in a white shirt together with pair of long black pants that highlighted his tall figure. He wore a warm smile on his place as he peeked out the door. Scanning the hall, his eyes landed on the three kids and finally he took his step in.
"Hello kids, I am caretaker Jonathan." He walked up in front of them.
"You must not be familiar with me, but that's understandable since I work behind the scenes." he said with a smile.
Mitch and the rest took their stand and gave their greetings together with their names and numbers.
"Okay take your sits now, I'm going to brief you about the procedures." He said as he placed his hands inside the pockets of his lab coat.
"You all would finally step outside of the walls of the orphanage and start a new life with...." The man started talking the process of the adoption. Mitch and the rest had been present in the previous adoptions as an audience.
The adoption was an event that the orphans cherished a lot that is why they flock the adoption hall whenever it happens. The hall would all was be packed with children from different wards just like Mitch's 1200. They would cheer for the lucky kids and watch them as they leave through the 'Happy Future' door. Mitch was one of those kids, well at least he was able to attend the ceremony once, two years ago. At that time, one of the lucky kids was his friend, Jane. He listened carefully that time to the procedures as it might provide him some clues to where Jane would be sent, unfortunately it wasn't how he expected it to be. The information given was just about rules that they should follow for a successful adoption, info about the world outside and finally a pep talk about how the situation would change their lives and the lives of their new family for the better.
Mitch never forgot what the procedures was from 2 years ago so his mind wandered off during the briefing. He thought of the adoption hall, the idea of getting adopted to be the ultimate goal but now, without his friends Sasha, Ali and the others, it didn't feel so satisfying that he thought it would. Subconsciously he thought that it would be better if his family would adopt his friends as well but that was just wishful thinking on his part.
"Okay that is all, are there any questions?" Mitch disembarked his thought-train as Jonathan finished his 4 minute speech.
It was silent. Mitch wanted to ask if he could visit the orphanage in the future but he couldn't muster the courage to ask until-
Jonathan's voice resounded across the hall as he answered a question from a ghost.
"We can help you fix your problem so you would no longer need to sign to communicate with your family." He said with his eyes-closed arched into a smile.
Mitch heard the word 'sign' and he instinctively looked at ice princess besides him. Her small petite hands flowed in the air. Immediately he thought-
'She's mute.'
There were a fair share of kids who are coupled with saddening disabilities but since Mitch was exposed to a lot of them, he thought that it was just normal. She was just like him he thought, just a tad bit different. Watching the hands of the girl, he was able to roughly understand what she was trying to say.
'Problem... fix... how..' Mitch analyzed and he was right.
"We have this facility that works on curing kids like you. We've help the other kids as well, it's thoughtful of you to ask."
He really was right. He was able to learn how to read sign language long ago since he had this friend who was mute just like her. After hearing about the facility he felt warm.
'Once he gets chosen as a lucky kid, he would be able to talk...'
Jonathan asked if there were any more questions. Finally Mitch mustered up his minuscule courage since even the ice princess could ask, why couldn't he?
"I have a friend."
"She left 2 years ago. Her number was 1211 and her name was Jane Greene. She told me before that she would try to visit us one day.. did she ever..."
"Oh yes, she did visit. And she even asked for you, Mitchell, right?"
A strange atmosphere enveloped the Jonathan. His smile was awfully different from how it used to be. It was still a smile nonetheless but a lot more eerier.
"Actually, you 3 will be adopted by her family so, you will get to see her again."
"I promise you that." His smile gave Mitch a sense of foreboding but the contents of what he said made him ignore that feeling as a single thought ran through his mind.
'I will get to see Jane again.'