The garden was beautiful- the most wonderful and magical place she had ever seen before. She pushed a strand of chestnut brown hair away from her face so she could see the environment better: there were billions of flowers surrounding her, kinds and species she had never seen before. The sweet, mystical scent of the nature enchanted her. It was almost completely silent in this mysterious garden… only the soft summer breeze blowing, the sound of exotic birds singing to each other, and the tiny trickling of freshwater from a waterfall not far away from her. She inhaled the air and sighed happily as she exhaled. That's when she realized she was wearing something strange, but breathtaking: the prettiest dress she had ever seen.

It was made from the strongest and softest silk she had ever known. The dress itself was kind of simple: it was the color of dark pink, almost as red as the rose. It was sleeveless, and it went down to her ankles. It wasn't decorated heavily at all: no jewels, no pearls, no precious stones… nothing. But that's what makes it so beautiful and elegant, the young girl thought.

She also realized that she was barefoot, sitting on a stone bench in the center of the entire splendor in the garden. She smiled: this was probably, what you call, paradise.

Suddenly, she wondered why she was alone in this place: no animals at all. That's strange, she pondered. Usually, in a place like this, there's bound to have squirrels climbing on the trees, bees buzzing as they pick the pollen, and the birds…? I hear them, but they're not here… The chirping of the birds continued, but she couldn't see any of them. She frowned, and abruptly, this place didn't seem like quite a paradise at all. She tried desperately to search for insects, even the tiniest signs of red ants. Nothing. But the birds still sang… somewhere. As she sat back on the stone bench, she unexpectedly shivered… now she sensed that the aura in this place… was unwelcoming. As if she wasn't supposed to be here.

But if I'm not supposed to be here… why am I here? She wondered.

She was a little scared now: the garden belonged to somebody… that she knew. But what if they found her trespassing this place? What would they do to her? As she thought about that, she grimaced… just as she heard sudden footsteps coming her way.

Oh no!

"We found a trespasser here, Your Honor!" she heard a voice say. It sounds weak, a little like a frog croaking, the girl thought. But she knew it was a male voice.

"Do you know who it is?" a stronger, firmer male voice asked.

"No, we don't!" Another voice said. It sounded almost exactly like the first voice, like a frog croaking. "But soon we will because we're getting close to them!"

The second voice said nothing, but the sound of heavy footsteps became louder, and louder and louder until all of a sudden, three figured emerged from a bush near her.

Two were almost exactly the same: they had pale grey skin and resembled slightly like frogs, however it was absolutely clear that, in reality, they were small (and a little chubby) men. But the last one…

Even though she knew that she had never seen them before… somehow… she completely knew them now. It was as if a memory buried inside her head for such a long time has suddenly exploded as it remounted to surface.

The two small, chubby grey-skinned men were staring at her strangely, surrounding the third person… the most important one. Compared to the other two, he was much taller…and looked more human. He had shoulder-length dark hair, and he was wearing a weird assortment of white clothing… but what she noticed most about him was his eyes: it was the color of moss green, a beautiful, lively color if… they weren't so cold and cruel.

"Haku…" the girl whispered. " Is that you…?"

The taller and more intimidating figure gave her a hard gaze, and asked in a strong voice:

"What are you doing in my garden?"

"What…? Your garden?" she asked, surprised.

"Yes, his garden!" one of the frog-men exclaimed angrily.

The other one was about to say something too, but the stronger figure gave him a tough stare, and he shut his mouth.

She felt suddenly sad… couldn't he remember? He was supposed to be happy that she was here with him now… what happened? Why was he suddenly so cold to her?

"HAKU! It's me… can't you remember!" she cried to the taller boy.

"Don't talk to me like that," he replied coldly. "And address me as Master Kohaku."

"Haku…" she said. "Kohaku… why can't you see… it's me, Chihiro! SEN!"

"There is no Chihiro or Sen in my life," Kohaku said evenly. "Now get out, unless you won't to be thrown out."

Tears started to pour from Chihiro's eyes, but she contained them as she cried to him:

"What happened to you! Why can't you see…!"

"Stop saying nonsense, you silly girl!" one of the smaller men snapped.

Chihiro ignored him, and tried one more time:

"There was a Chihiro in your life, Kohaku! And there is now! Remember? You promised me four years ago that you would meet me again… but you never came! But now, I came to you! But instead of being happy like you're supposed to be, you're as cold as you were in the beginning!" she stopped fore a while to take her breath, then she repeated her question desperately again: "What happened to you…? Why can't you remember me now?"

The two chubby men looked confused, but Kohaku just sighed as he answered:

"If there was a Chihiro in my life before… then she was forced to forget me… that's why… I chose to forget her."

He spoke with his usual expressionless tone, but when she looked deep, deep down into his cold eyes, she could see sadness and pain. Suddenly, the image began to blur in front of her eyes, and she unexpectedly felt as if she was spinning… spinning, spinning, spinning around as the picture in front of her became more and more unfocused. It felt as if she was getting lift up into the air. Chihiro closed her eyes so she wouldn't get a headache, hoping the spinning would stop, but it continued to spin and spin faster until just then, she felt her feet hit onto solid ground again.

She kept her eyes firmly shut for a few minutes, before hesitantly opening them up to see her new environment. She wasn't prepared for such a sight, because it was utterly strange and inexplicable: the floor was like a window screen to a spinning aqua tornado, because it seemed to be spinning itself. Chihiro didn't know where the walls were, because there were hundreds of mirrors trapping her, creating a dizzy illusion. She took a step back and also realized that her clothing changed to: instead of her previously elegant dress, she was now wearing a green and white striped T-shirt and pink shorts.

Why am I wearing my ten-year old clothes? She wondered. They were long ago too small for her, but now, they seemed that they fitted perfectly. This is all too confusing!

She looked at herself in a mirror just facing her. She looked like her usual fourteen-year old self. Chestnut brown hair, tied into a long ponytail now going until her elbows, honey-hazel eyes… She almost looked like the same person she was four years ago, except now taller and a little more mature. Suddenly, her image in the mirror shifted as it became something… or rather someone… else.

Shoulder-length dark hair, expressionless visage, cold moss green eyes…

"Kohaku…?"

Suddenly, the image seemed a lot more than a reflection as it stepped out of the mirror to stand in front of her. He gave a short nod as he leaned closer to her, closer and closer…

"Kohaku…"

She could hear his heart beating and his even breathing… and she asked again:

"Why did you forget me?"

"When you crossed the tunnel," he said, closing his eyes. "You had to forget… and when you forgot, you couldn't remember anymore. You couldn't remember your friends… nobody… not even me. I couldn't live knowing that I once had somebody special in my life… who would never know my existence. I would be left with a cracking heart forever… unless I chose to forget... Forget you… forever."

"But…you remember me now, right?" Chihiro asked hopefully.

He said nothing at all, but opened his eyes and leaned a little more closely, and swiftly, she could feel his lips against hers for less than a second before he pulled away and disappeared… forever.

No! Chihiro opened her eyes and was about to shout for him to come back when…

The floor cracked open and she was engulfed by darkness.