Little Pink Shoes

AAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it's my first story!!!!!!!!!! please read and review!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!! be gentle...

"Honey, don't go too far, you'll get lost." A woman's voice called, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Okay, mama. Don't worry! I'll be fine." The child laughed. "I'll be fine."

I could hear little footsteps getting closer. They stopped, and now I could feel small fingers brushing my surface. Soon, bare feet plunged into me, and truthfully, it was not entirely uncomfortable. The little feet and hands stroked my scales.

Just then, I felt something else drop into me, causing me ripple unpleasantly. I looked closer, and I saw it was a little pink shoe, probably belonging to the little pink feet. Above my surface, I heard a scream, and the entire body of the child dove into me to retrieve the shoe.

I could feel her moving frantically about, struggling against my current and trying to breathe. And then, her breath broke and her movements slowed.

Then, for the first time, I felt something I had never felt before. Was it mercy? It took me only a moment to act. I returned to the child and swept her up on me.

Instinctively, she clutched to me, holding my horns tightly, and never once loosing her grip. I knew every bank of mine, and quickly, I located the closest one. There was movement on my back, and I knew the girl was still alive. Also, I heard a little gasp, as if she was surprised at what she was seeing. But no human could see a spirit. I pondered this as I made way for my bank.

If anyone could see spirits, it would either be young children or people near death. This was because children were closest to birth. Before birth, every human is a spirit. It doesn't matter how small or non-descript it is, it is still a spirit. It is the same for when people died. They become a spirit, and so, at the moment of death, that human can also see spirits. Though, spirits with any power at all are kept forever as a spirit. I feared this child was the latter, because she seemed to be too old to see any spirit properly.

I hurried, and at last, I reached my bank and deposited the child and her shoe to the safe land. But she held fast to my horns, and for a reason I could not explain, I stayed by her side. She coughed a few times, and finally, her eyes opened. I gazed into the wide, scared, brown depths of her eyes with my own sliver ones. Then she spoke.

"Thanks. You saved me, Mister Dragon." She smiled. I nodded. My own air was getting short, and I needed to return to my water before I became nothing.

How the child felt my urgency, I did not know, but she said, "You need to go back now, don't you, Mister Dragon? Well, that's okay; we'll see each other again, won't we? Thanks again, Mister Dragon. Bye now!" She wobbled to her feet, and as I made to steady her, she laughed, a tinkling sound that made my heart calm. "That's okay, Mister Dragon! I'm fine now." She slipped on her pink shoe and turned to face me again. "My name's Chihiro. What's your name?" I turned to a sign that said KOHAKU RIVER. I nodded at that. "Wow, you're the river? That's amazing, Kohaku!" And she laughed again. Chihiro smiled, and I looked back at her with wonder in my eyes.

Just then, a faint voice called out from the thicket of trees next to my water.

"Chihiro? Where are you? Chihiro!" It was panic-stricken, and a woman's voice.

"Oh! Kohaku, I have to go now, but we'll see each other again, okay? Mama! Mama, I'm right here!" She got up and ran in to the trees, her little pink shoes thumping softly on the grass.