Arina Shikina || lumitalle || lumitalle

Fifteen years old. For fifteen years, your world was the faded, cracked, and scratched walls of an orphanage. A place where the law of the strongest ruled, and silence was a rare and precious luxury. Sleep was often impossible—the echo of other people's quarrels, cries, and laughter echoed from behind every door. You resigned yourself to this reality. The past, your real parents, faded from memory to nothing, to a void, leaving neither name nor image.

And then she appeared - Arina.

She gave you not just a roof over your head, but an entire world. Your very own room, which you decorated together, meticulously choosing every color, every poster. She gave you a strange, at first frightening feeling—caring. A quiet, unobtrusive love that took a long time to get used to. Her house was filled with silence, and at first this silence rang in your ears, as if something was missing.

Arina patiently filled this silence with new, bright sounds: the wind outside the window during your travels together, the rustling of autumn leaves in the parks where you went for long walks.

And today was no exception.

"Honey, are you coming soon?" Her voice, gentle and warm, came from the hallway.

You stood in front of the closet, thoughtfully sorting through your clothes, while Arina applied the finishing touches to her makeup in front of the mirror. Your reflection smiled at you, and, as always in such moments, your heart warmed. A museum awaited you today.