hell no

Owen comes from a home for orphaned children, along with his two brothers. They had each been tasked by the home's administration to write letters to be sent out to prospective adoptive families. The children were told they could each pick one family but that no two of them could write to the same family - they therefore each selected a family, based on the descriptions in the binders, along with their own gut instincts (to which they had been encouraged to give great honor). The three had been living in an orphanage that was about to undergo a change in leadership. They'd been promised, in the incumbent administrator's mumbled and abashed tone, that the incoming director was a notoriously aggressive, abusive, and hateful man. The children put great care in their letters and sent them off with a kiss and a prayer. Of the three, Owen alone is adopted. Owen is heartbroken as he is shuttled into his new family's home, doing his best to maintain hope that his two brothers will also find a welcoming home soon. Upon arrival, he sees that a great many children have been adopted by the same family - children from around the world, both younger and older than himself. When Owen asked his new family, the Strettos, to also adopt his brothers, they acknowledge that they have plenty of room and resources available but that they are unwilling to extend the invitation of adoption to his remaining kin. In response to his incredulous expression, they point him towards a lone frame hanging in their grand, chandeliered entryway. As he approaches, he perceives it to be a diploma or award, but upon inspection he finds it to be a homemade document that reads, "Entry will only be permitted to applicants following the strict Stretto Template," under which was typed a paragraph remarkably similar to the letter he had sent in his personal application. He turns back to his new parents to see them already walking away, content with the explanation provided. Questions were prohibited, and enjoyment was expected. Time seemed to stand still, and communications to his siblings were barred. He met other adoptees in similar circumstances: coming from a larger family of equal need but being the sole recipients of the "warm embrace" of the Stretto's adoption. His mind rarely diverted from anxiety over his brothers' suffering. He incessantly inquired of his new guardians to reconsider, until they were ultimately forced to bring Owen to a white-walled medical facility. There they wiped his memory clean of all remnants of his prior home and family members. They held his hand as they guided him home, escorting his newly dazed, robotic self back to his forever home. Owen lived the rest of his life in contended silence, smiling easily with his adopted peers and partaking freely in the Strettos' limited hospitality. Only his parents knew the truth of his siblings' continued torment at the group home.