This is the scene of the secret garden that I imagined countless times when I was young. Those teenagers passed by and left here. They have left behind those lonely, embarrassing, unknown secrets in their lives, and I hope that I am the gardener of that garden, carefully taking care of those fragile and vulnerable thoughts. One day later, I saw an independent movie called "Juvenile Shelter", and I knew that such "secret gardens" have always existed.
Mason met his adoptive parents and brothers and sisters who were not related by blood. Here, Grace was raped by his father and became pregnant, leaving an indelible trauma. Marcus witnessed the trade between his mother and the human trafficker here, and he found that he had become a commodity that could be used for bargaining. Here, Jaden was beaten up by his father, accepted sexual harassment, and was forced to lie to the judge. And Sammy lost his most beloved toy here, which is the most important part of his life. Everyone here has their own secrets. They are tacitly concealing the wounds in their hearts, but the scars left by their childhood will always ache in the rainy days. The teenagers warm each other in this garden, and at the same time They are hurting each other again, because you don't know when you will touch those sensitive and fragile wounds.
This is the juvenile shelter. Those young people who have become more sensitive and have a stronger sense of self-protection because of the family environment live here. Marcus is a tall black man who doesn’t like to talk but has a strong sense of self-protection. His self-esteem, he is covered with thorns, ready to attack those who have bad intentions at any time, he looks fearless, but when he turns eighteen and is about to leave the shelter, he becomes hesitant and panicked. He hides drugs, fights, and cuts his wrists for a beloved goldfish. Jaden is a problematic girl with a strong sense of self-protection. She is full of guard against the environment, lacks a sense of security, self-harm tendency, and emotional impermanence. His father is an elegant gentleman in the eyes of an outsider, but he beats Jaden severely and sexually in the family. Invade. Samin was introverted and shy, guarding the toys around him, like a knight guardian's own princess, until one day his toys were forcibly taken away by the psychologist, and he began to become wilted and in a trance. And Grace, the teacher of the shelter, had a strong psychological shadow on her pregnancy because she was raped by her father when she was young. When she saw Jaden’s experience, she felt so empathetic. She would even break in with a baseball bat at night. In Jaden's home, such a group of people with their own experiences are together to redeem each other.
However, the experience of the asylum gave them another identity and way of life. They tried to break with their past. Before Marcus left the asylum, Grace organized a party for him and personally gave him a haircut. The scars left by severe beatings began to heal. Jaden was cheated by her father again on her birthday. She became irritable and emotional. Marcus organized everyone to write birthday cards for her. Grace accompanied her to vent crazy in the catharsis room. Sammy got the toy that Knight had hidden for him. He slowly became cheerful, and finally he could practice running in the shelter under the American flag, and Grace, under the enlightenment of Mason, could finally face her past. She held Mason's hand tightly when she saw the baby in her belly and wept with joy. The life of the asylum will never change because of the departure of the children. It always stays there, waiting to give warmth to the next coming child.
The painful memories of our youth have imprinted indelible tattoos on our young bodies. Because of these injuries, we become vulnerable, sensitive, resistant to unfamiliar environments, and always maintain a strong sense of self-protection. The world is huge. We are young people with their own secrets in this shelter. We keep hurting ourselves and others, and at the same time trying to redeem ourselves and warm others. Until the end we will forget those pains and start a new life, or be destroyed by those scars. Life is never as inspirational and full of positive energy as movies. More often we will live with these pains and hatreds, and gain inner satisfaction and pleasure in the process of constant mutual harm. We all yearn for a real life. The "Secret Garden" allows us to temporarily bury those desolate past events, and then re-enter the road.
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