Author's Note: Hello, all! Look—I've got a new fic up and running! This time it's about Spirited Away. Guess I couldn't hold off the pull of Miyazaki-sama for long, could I? Sorry if any of you are waiting on the continuance of 'Lorraine,' but those of you out there who are artists of any kind will know what I mean when I say that a muse is a fickle thing. As to those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, have no fears; nothing of what I say here bears any importance to those who do not look at it as so. And as for those of you who STILL think I'm a psychopath, poo on you.
General disclaimer; though I admire Miyazaki-sama greatly, I in no way have the rights to his works, and this includes any and all things associated with Spirited Away. Other than that, I hope you all enjoy the story. I'd like it if you'd review, if only for constructive criticism, but I do know that of those who read fanfiction online, less than half actually review, so I won't get my hopes up.
See you at the next update!
Chapter One
I was running down a long hallway. Ahead of me, I could hear my mom and dad calling for me—looking for me. But I had a funny feeling that it had actually been them who had been lost; not me.
There was something behind me, but I didn't know what. I suppressed the urge to stop and turn around, but I didn't know why. I just had to keep running, and I couldn't look back.
The end of the tunnel was getting closer. I could see my parents now. Or at least it looked like them—but they had masks on. Mom's mask was that of a frog, and Dad had a Noh mask on.
"Come on, Chihiro," he said, holding out his hand. "It's time to go home."
"That's not her name," Mom said from behind her mask.
His hand suddenly jerked, and began filling with gold nuggets. His palm was soon overflowing with the shining lumps, and as they spilled over, they transformed into little soot balls before they hit the ground. I watched as they flowed around my feet, bumping into my shoes, and floated off down the tunnel—the way I had come.
As soon as I looked up, I knew I had made a mistake. My chest seized up, but before I could scream, the source of my fear burst from the tunnel.
"Nooo!"
I flung my arms up in front of my face defensively, not knowing what it was I was defending myself against—I could never remember what it was that scared me so—but knowing that whatever it was; it was going to hurt me.
Opening my eyes cautiously, the dream faded slowly away until my eyes adjusted to the light shafts that splashed into my room in between the shutters that hung over my bedroom window. The echoes of my own scream slowly faded from my mind until it was overtaken by birdsong and what sounded faintly like someone moving around downstairs.
"Chihiro!" I heard my mom call. "Breakfast is ready!"
Taking another deep breath to cleanse myself of the nightmare, I sighed with relief.
"Coming, Mom!" I called back.
"Are you okay, Chihiro?"
I looked up from my lunch to find that my two good friends had paused halfway through their own bentos to look at me.
"Yeah," Nakashi echoed Tome's worried tone. "You've been looking really tired lately. Are you doing all right?"
"I'm fine," I smiled back at them. "It's just this stupid dream I've been having lately; I haven't been getting a lot of rest at night."
"What kind of dream?" Nakashi asked.
"Is it like the one with that creepy spider guy?" Tome added.
I grimaced at the memory of that one—it was a nightmare I'd had around the time I'd first met Tome; about a spider with an old man's head who was had wrapped me in sweet-smelling grass and was going to grind me into a powder.
"No," I said. "Not like that one, but kind of similar. This one had a tunnel…and my Mom and Dad were there, except they were wearing masks, and if I looked back, something would try to hurt me and wake me up."
"Wow, Chihiro," Nakashi said. "You have some of the strangest dreams."
"I know! Why do you think that is?"
"Maybe it's because you've got the most active imagination of anyone I've ever met?" Tome suggested.
We all laughed.
"See you guys tomorrow!" I called over my shoulder to Tome and Nakashi as I began walking home. They both waved back and headed in the direction of their homes. As I turned around, I groaned at the hill ahead of me. Why did my parents have to move us into the house at the very end of the only uphill road in the whole town?
I was panting by the time I was halfway up. I watched grimly as I passed by puddle after puddle of water that had formed after the rain the night before, my tongue dry from exertion. A wind finally picked up as I reached more level ground. I sighed blissfully in the cool breeze.
"That's much better!"
The wind rippled over the puddles, and fragments of reflected light danced in the water. I was overcome with a sudden feeling of déjà vu, but it was gone as soon as it had come, and took the wind with it.
"Hey!" I called out. "Don't stop!"
I watched as the breeze whipped ahead of me like an invisible ribbon, trailing old leaves and bits of dust.
"Wait!" I called after it. "Wait for me!"
I took off at a run, my worn sneakers slapping against the smooth pavement. In the final stretch, the road completely flattened out, and I spotted the blue house at the end of the road, right before it reached the dead end that marked the beginning of the woods.
Stretching my arms out on either side, I imagined I was flying through the air; clouds under my feet instead of concrete, and instead of air between my fingers, my hands….
I felt as though I had been physically shocked. But I didn't have any time to wonder about why before I really was sailing through the air. I realized only after my knee made contact with the pavement that I had been too distracted to notice the crack in the road.
"Ouch!" I wailed, rolling over and wincing as I pulled my leg up to my chest to inspect the injury. It wasn't that bad—just a scratch, really—but I was bleeding, and it still hurt to walk. At least I wasn't that far from home, now.
"Stupid old road," I grumbled aloud.
The wind picked up again, and I heard it soar through the trees and over the puddles again; as cool and crisp as the last one had been.
"A little late for that, isn't it?"
And now I'm talking to the wind, I thought bitterly. Just great.
AN: That's all for now. Please look forward to the next update in the near future. I promise it won't take long.
AN2: Updated 04.10.06