The sound of shattering glass was kept on repeat from an mp3 player. Without it, the halls, no the whole dwelling would’ve been able to hear a pin drop. Nonetheless, with the volume turned all the way up, even with headphones plugged in, the audio was perfectly audible to any stranger who were to pass by.
The walls had seen, and the floors had heard, things beyond anything that should be possible. Yet, no one, not even the walls, has heard her voice. With no proper medical history before the age of ten, Tae was found loitering in front of an orphanage on the verge of tears. After seeing signs of abuse on her arms and legs, the chairwoman clothed her, fed her, and even provided a bed for Tae to sleep in with no questions asked. Like clockwork, she accepted the chairwoman’s hospitality with a cordial smile every day.
With each passing day, the adults near Tae in her new routine gradually found something perplexing about her behavior. Although she was always respectful and engaging with her peers, she never once spoke. Even when she got hurt, not a sound left her mouth. It was as if someone hit the mute button on her.
The town doctor, Dr. Maria Key, had been eventually called in to give her a checkup. Tae had taken care of by the same doctor the day she was found so she wasn’t on guard. Even as a small-town practitioner, Dr. Key was skilled at her job, so when she found nothing physically wrong with Tae, concerning looks were always exchanged between the adults. One thing to note is that although Dr. Key had her proper certificate from all the years of schooling and practice, she was no specialist of the mind. There was nothing physically wrong with her, but it was made apparent for anyone who can put two and two together that she had a nasty sort of mental block. Something plagued Tae's mind. Unable to offer professional advice, the doctor excused herself. Unsure how to help her, she prayed that Tae would feel safe enough to talk one day.
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And although she never spoke, Tae had a plethora of interests and hobbies she became absorbed in at the orphanage. One of which was listening to music. 'What type of music?' you might ask... it was more like white noise: violent white noise. The sounds of nails on a chalk board and extreme traffic noise with aggressive honks was something Tae found comfort in listening. As eccentric as this sounds, this is what worked for her, so no one complained. Tae had already had it saved as an audio link in her mp3 the day she was found. Her mind was at peace when she listened to it, so the director of the orphanage made an exception to let her listen to it even as she slept. To each their own but reasonably, this completely puzzled the children around her. Tae even had this constant look of terror in her eyes when she didn’t have at least one earbud in her ear from her mp3 player, which by the look on her face should me soothing classical music, but alas the mp3 player only played seriously horrific violent noises.
When this was brought to the chairwoman's attention, she sought help from an old classmate she’d trusted from medical school. City life, where all the sounds on the mp3 player was a constant nuisance, was probably more comfortable for Tae. The old friend had also coincidentally dropped out halfway through and didn’t receive credit would be no help professionally, she agreed to be her legal guardian until Tae was of age and could stand on her own. It seemed as if Tae had been at the orphanage for quite a while as everyone had grown attached to her -however unusual her habits were. With a heavy heart, chairwoman and everyone else bid farewell to Tae so she could go to a better place that could possibly fit her needs.