Eh. I should probably be writing more of my OC story (Total Drama Eternity) but... Spirited Away has always been a good movie, so, shall we begin? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shimmering lights reflected off the river carrying a spirit-filled boat. Long, green grass waved soundlessly in a soft breeze. A little further away, a young girl crouched in fear against a cement wall. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

'No!' she exclaimed, assuming the worst.

'Don't be afraid, I just want to help you.' A soothing voice filled her ears. She looked up, up into beautiful green eyes...

Chihiro woke up with a start.

She sat up, rubbed her eyes and looked around. She was back in her room, her plain, drab, normal room. The walls were uncovered, her bedsheets were a boring white and her bedside table was just wood. The only thing remotely decorative in her room was a little glass ornament that sat atop the table. It was a beautiful dragon, long and regal, with a flowing mane and an elegant stance.

She sighed and pulled her legs to her chest, hugging herself. Her long brown hair fell messily over her arms, shoulders and long blue nightgown.

It had been almost six years since her wondrous encounter with the spirit world and its inhabitants, and she still relived her adventures there nearly every night through her dreams. The spirit world has amazed her, stunned her to no end and was exciting! Of course, everything after that seemed rather, well, rather dull.

Life had lost it's sense of excitement. Nothing seemed surprising or inspiring or scary or even fun! Her life was just one bleak and dreary day after another. She couldn't genuinely smile or laugh at all, she would always force it though, the last thing she needed was her parents fretting endlessly over her, they had Aito to worry about. Oh yes, Aito is Chihiro's 4 year old brother, her parents always wanted two children, they just wanted to wait until they moved to have their second, and they did. So yes, that was Chihiro of the now, a funless, boring fifteen year old. She missed her real friends...

'Chiiiiiiiiiihiiiiiiirrooooooo!' She whipped her head towards to the door. As if on cue, a little boy came running into her room. He had short brown and twinkling brown eyes. She quickly stood and opened her arms. The little boy crashed into her legs, hugging them. She bent down and hugged him too. 'Chihiiiro! Goodmorning Onee-chan!' he greeted, grinning.

Chihiro forced a small smile. 'Goodmorning Aito. How did you sleep?'

'I dreamt I was a pirate! Captain Aito Ogino!' his grin widened. 'Did you have any dreams, Onee-chan?'

Chihiro hesistated. 'No, sadly not.' Aito frowned, so she quickly added 'Maybe I will tonight.' He was happy again.

'Maybe you'll dream about pirates, like me!'

'Maybe...' she paused, then regained her "smile". 'But before we can get to tonight, we need to get through today, and today I have to go to school!'

'Ok Chihiro! Bye!' Aito grinned as he ran out of the room. Chihiro sighed again, then started getting ready.

It will protect you. It's made from the threads your friends wove together.

The words rang through Chihiro's mind as she reached for her purple hair tie. It was the only thing she had from the spirit world, the only thing that assured her that her trip to there had been real, as neither of her parents remembered their time there. Sometimes she wasn't sure whether or not she had actually met Haku and Lin and Yubaba. But everytime she saw her purple tie glint in the sunlight, she knew she had. She sighed, slowly sitting on her bed.

She stared at it. The purple hair tie. Back then, she never would have guessed that it would one day bring such sadness, yet at the same time, such joy... Chihiro ran her fingers over the delicately woven threads, remembering...

'CHIHIRO! ARE YOU READY?'

Her mother's call jolted Chihiro back to reality. She swiftly pulled her hair into a high ponytail and raced down the stairs, grabbing her school bag in the process.

'Chihiro, you'll be late again! I don't know what I'm going to do with you.' Yuko shook her head disapprovingly, watching her daughter rush around the house, grabbing her things while shoving toast in her mouth.

Aito, who was standing beside Yuko, tugged at his mother's shirt.

'Is Onee-chan going to get in trouble again?'

Yuko sighed and nodded. 'Yes, I'm afraid so.' she looked at Chihiro, who had just stood in front of her, ready to go.

They got in the car and left for school.

So, um... tell me what you think! Sorry for any grammatical and punctual mistakes.