My Guardian Angel

[indistinct whispering]

[whispering stops]

What are you doing just

standing there, staring?

God, she gives me the creeps.

Here, make yourself useful.

Come on, then.

Now go to your room.

[sighs] Not until breakfast.

Eating snacks ruins your teeth.

And I will be inspecting

your teeth,

just to make sure you're not

snacking behind our backs.

[indistinct whispers resume

and then fade]

[distorted, ominous whispering]

[Mother] This wine's nice.

Are you deaf as well as dumb?

Bed. Now.

Thought I could sense something.

[air rushing]

[indistinct whispering]

Silence!

[moans loudly]

- [glass shatters]

- [screams]

[Mother] What the hell

was that?!

[panting]

[girl yelps]

Hannah!

What have you been doing?!

Look at me! I said what...

What have you been doing?

What have you been doing?

[screams, then whimpers]

What have you been doing?

Look at me!

Look!

[continued whimpers

and short screams]

If you carry on misbehaving,

I'll bring Mother up.

- [exhales deeply]

- Okay?

- [quiet whimpers]

- Have you calmed down?

And you know what she

likes to do, don't you?

[soft whimpering]

So be a good girl.

[whimpers loudly, screams]

- [child giggles]

- [door opens]

- [Father] Ah!

- [gasps]

- You little...

- [screams] No!

- [Father] Here comes Mother.

- [screams]

What's the little b*tch

been up to now?

She threw that picture at me.

[whimpers]

I warned you never

to put her photo up again!

See? I warned you, Hannah.

I warned you.

- Right. Come here!

- [screams]

Now!

- [sobs]

- [Mother] Shut up!

Hold still, Hannah.

That's it. That will teach you

a lesson, Hannah.

[Hannah sobs, muffled]

Won't it?

[Father]

You were warned, Hannah.

- You were warned.

- [Mother] Exactly.

How dare you disobey us.

Hands! Got to stick your arm in!

Arms at the back. That's it.

- [Mother] Huh!

- [moans]

Darling.

Darling, darling.

We don't want

to leave any marks.

[whimpers]

Be good, Hannah, or next time

I'll tape up your eyes

and nose as well.

[door closes]

[indistinct whispering]

[whimpers]

Get in there! Get in there!

[sobbing]

Is that what you think

we deserve, Angel?

A curse?!

Nice idea!

I'll keep them as a souvenir!

[screaming]

No, no, no.

Enough. Enough. Enough.

Fine, but we'll keep her

locked up

so she can think about what

she tried to do to us.

I'll kill you both.

Well, she's got more spirit

than Hannah.

[Mother laughs] She'll never

betray us again.

Give me the key.

I'll lock her up.

[Father] Okay.

[lock turning]

[footsteps retreating]

[birds singing]

[Mother] Hannah!

You better be awake up there!

Do you want to be late

on your first day?

[grunts]

[footsteps approaching]

[Hannah moans]

You're lucky this is the first

day of your new school

or I'd tie you up again...

tighter.

[sighing]

God's sake, hurry up.

Eat faster.

[disgusted groan] Go hungry!

[Mother] I'll just be through

that window, okay?

Speaking with your teacher,

Miss Palmer.

Growing up so fast.

This time next year, you'll be

in second school already.

She must be new.

She's sitting with her mummy.

[girl] Aww, poor little baby

still needs her mummy.

- [laughter]

- [girl 2] Loner.

[Mother] Look, I'm not gonna

deny it,

but it has been very difficult.

No, I can imagine.

But we never give up.

Well, she's continuing

to see her speech therapist.

Anything I can do

to help her to speak.

That's really all we want.

She's just too high-functioning

for other schools

to take her on.

Elena sounds perfect.

What's her background?

Well, she was born

in the Czech Republic.

Um... she's wonderful

with the children.

She's very perceptive.

Hannah's going to be

in good hands.

Good.

Hi. I'm Katie.

Don't have to be so rude,

I was only trying to be nice.

Yeah. Trying to be nice.

What's the matter,

cat got your tongue?

Weirdo.

Katie?

You think I didn't see?

See what? I was only

trying to be nice.

It's important I make you

aware of something.

Not everyone in life

sees and feels things

exactly the same as others.

You see, Hannah has a condition,

something called autism.

Something you will learn more

about when you get older.

But for now,

you need to treat her

exactly the same as you would

treat your friends.

You called her a weirdo,

didn't you?

Didn't you?

Do you understand?

Yes, Miss. Sorry.

Now you know why,

try to be nicer next time.

Otherwise, I will speak to Miss

Palmer about your behaviour.

Okay?

[footsteps approaching]

You'll be fine here, sweetie.

Had a nice chat,

told them all about you.

It'll just take you

a little time

to get used to your new school.

Okay?

Be careful.

You tell, I'll make it

so miserable for you,

you'll end up like your sister.

Now, come on.

Time to dazzle your new heads.

[footsteps approaching]

She had it tough with bullies

in her previous school.

That's why her parents

moved her here.

Watch out for her, just in case.

I will.

So, how high-functioning

is Hannah?

Um... very, actually.

She was diagnosed with

non-verbal autism

at the age of four, but

she hasn't spoken since birth.

Wow. Well, I'm so very

fascinated with autism.

It's, you know, one of

the reasons why I love my job.

I know that autistic people

can be super intelligent.

Yeah. Just be aware that her

mother brought to my attention

- some other issues.

- Like what exactly?

Well, she doesn't cope very well

with loud noises

or too many people

speaking at once.

Her writing needs some work.

And, um, she understands well,

but she prefers communicating

with drawings and expressions.

And her social skills

can come across

as slightly inappropriate.

So... it's important to

communicate that problem

with the other children.

[chuckles] I'm sorry.

Can I just, uh,

correct you there?

Could we just refer to condition

instead of a problem?

Because it is not a problem.

[sighs]

Well, you know what I mean.

Her mother gave me

some pet cards.

Oh. Hmm. Okay, thanks.

Good.

Hi, Hannah. This is your new

assistant teacher, Elena.

Hi.

We'll have a lot of fun,

I promise.

Do you like to draw, Hannah?

Good, good. [chuckles]

So, for example, "she swims

like a fish" is a good simile.

You're almost comparing words

to other things.

- Do you understand?

- [children] Yes, miss.

Using similes

makes it far easier

for people to understand

what we're saying.

As using words of imagery

makes it stronger.

People use them often.

We all do.

Probably without even realizing

we're doing it.

Now what I'd like you to do

is take out your notebooks

and write down two similes

that you might use every day.

- And she has a face like a pig.

- [chuckles]

[Miss Palmer] Katie,

pay attention, please.

[indistinct whispering]

Hey, what's outside?

[whispering continue]

[whispering stops]

Hangman?

We can't play a game right now.

I'm sorry.

Mm.

Okay.

"S".

"F".

"A".

[indistinct whispering]

[Elena] "E".

Can I get a clue, please?

An angel?

You can see an angel outside?

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