For the first time since she'd moved here eight years ago, Chihiro Ogino's bedroom was empty. With the exception of her bed, pushed against the bay window to the far left of the room and stripped bare of all its sheets, and the white dresser that rested next to her closet door, everything had been packed into boxes that now lined the room in precariously stacked piles, ready to be shipped off and moved away. When the prospect of packing up her belongings to prepare herself for college move-in day had first rolled around, she'd been unable to imagine where to even begin. She'd been under the impression all along that it would be impossible to narrow one's whole life down to a series of neatly organized boxes, and yet, it seemed even precious memories were capable of being easily stored away. Now her bedroom looked to her the way that it had the very day they'd arrived here what seemed like an eternity ago, ready to begin their new life in a new town: empty and cold.

And now another milestone in her life had descended upon her, and if she were being completely frank, Chihiro didn't quite know how she ought to feel about it. Of course, it would be a lie to say that she wasn't excited for college; for months after she'd received her acceptance letter, she'd daydreamed of majestic institutional buildings all draped with ivy, relaxing with her new friends on the lush green lawn of the Student Union, and even going to her first college party. She'd even met her roommate already via social media, and it seemed like the two of them were bound to be fast friends. In spite of all this, though, she couldn't help but nurse her apprehensions that lurked beneath all the eagerness. She'd be without her parents, out on her own, with new responsibilities and expectations placed upon her shoulders, and that went without mentioning the fact that she'd be moving to an entirely new city. When she took all this into consideration, it was difficult to not be nervous.

She'd expressed her concerns to her mother, who of course had been understanding. Chihiro could always count on Mrs. Ogino to be the optimistic voice in her life whenever she was feeling particularly fearful about a new situation; even now, years later, she could still remember the day they'd arrived in her new town, and her mother had said, "It's fun to move to a new place. It's an adventure." Her thoughts on going to university for the first time were within a similar vein – she'd affectionately rubbed the heel of her hand lightly along the length of her daughter's spine, confessing that she'd been a nervous wreck when she left home for school, too, and that even though it would certainly be an adjustment, Chihiro would turn out alright in the end because she had, after all. The words of encouragement were simple, and yet, they were – as always – successful in calling the beginnings of a rueful smile to the corners of her mouth.

Mr. Ogino seemed equally as thrilled for his daughter, and doubly pleased with the hard work she'd done to get there in the first place. She'd always had the unfortunate tendency towards apathy, especially when she was just a child, and whenever she'd felt like giving up or quitting altogether when schoolwork became too difficult, too stressful, her father had been there to act as her rock. Stalwart, consistent, and with a healthy appreciation for a strong work ethic, Mr. Ogino was the kind of man who could have been strict, where it not for the fact that he was so perpetually jovial, himself. Where her mother tended to err on the side of caution, her father was impulsive, brash, loud, and yet underneath that he'd always been a surprisingly gentle man. Through all her years of high school, through the hectic process of sending college application after application, he'd been there whenever she need him to give her the extra resolve to finish what she started.

As she mulled all this over, Chihiro lingered in the doorway of her bedroom, still scarcely able to believe that it had been reduced to such emptiness. With a melancholic little smile, she walked into the room, remembering all too well the day she'd first seen it as a ten-year-old girl – she'd fallen in love with it quickly back then, and even now, it was difficult to leave it behind. What if my dorm isn't as comfortable? What if it's always too cold in there? Stubbornly, she pushed those negative thoughts to the back of her mind, determined not to let her fears ruin her excitement for tomorrow's move-in day. With a sigh, Chihiro raked her thin fingers through her mess of brown bangs, ambling around the room and drinking in all the details; though she would surely come home for the longer breaks, she wasn't certain of the next time she would ever see this place, and wanted to remember it as clearly as possible.

Out of the corner of her eye, a flash of light caught her attention. Blinking in a moment of stunned surprise, Chihiro glanced over in the direction of the sudden little flare, wondering if it could possibly be a little trinket that she'd forgotten to pack. With a curious arch of her eyebrows, she edged over to her dresser, where she found the culprit sitting atop its smoothly finished surface. It was a little pink hair tie, and the mid-afternoon sunlight streaming in through her windows had spilled onto it just long enough to cause it to shimmer. She picked it up and wrapped it around her wrist, holding it up to level with her eyes and examining it closely. Not for the first time, she found herself wishing she could remember where she'd gotten it; perhaps she'd found it on the day she'd first moved here, and had accidentally gotten lost in the woods. That was the story her parents had told her, and yet . . . another memory lingered in the back of her mind like a ghost, soft and sweet and yet frustratingly impossible to reach.

For whatever reason, her memories of the day she'd moved to this house had always been foggy. She could remember walking through that gloomy-looking tunnel with her mother and father, and the magnificent green meadow they'd found on the other side . . . but after that, she wasn't entirely certain of what had happened. She'd gotten separated from her parents and wandered around for hours until finally finding them on the other side of the tunnel again – at least, that was what her mom and dad said – but for whatever reason, something about that version of events sounded. . . off. According to her parents, when they'd finally been reunited again, she'd told them this harrowing tale of a boy who could turn into a dragon, and a bath house for spirits, and how she'd fought so hard to rescue them from a power-hungry witch. To them, it had been nothing more than a ridiculous little story, the traumatized musings of a frightened little girl who had been left on her own, but to Chihiro, it had seemed so real.

Did I really dream it all up? She found herself wondering, still gazing, transfixed, at the hair bow on her wrist. Even as the possibility crossed her mind, she found a sense of dismay sinking into the pit of her stomach; she knew that it wasn't real, that such a thing could never be possible, and yet, the realization disappointed her, all the same.

The strident ring of the telephone jolted her out of her reverie. Jumping, Chihiro quickly turned around on her heel, walking over and peeking her head around the doorway upon hearing her mother answer downstairs. For a few seconds, Mrs. Ogino's voice was nothing more than a pleasant mumble, but there was a moment's pause just before she called upstairs, "Chihiro! It's your friend, Mei, for you!"

That came as little surprise to her. Tomorrow, Mei would be moving into her own college, too; she probably just wanted the chance to say goodbye. Grinning to herself, Chihiro headed downstairs, skipping the last two stairs to dart into the kitchen and accept the telephone from her mother. "Hello?" she answered, balancing the phone between the crook of her shoulder and her cheek.

"Hey! Are you busy right now, Chihiro?" came Mei's chipper voice from the other end. In the background, Chihiro could hear a vague sort of shuffling that almost sounded like laughter – perhaps their other friends were with Mei right now, too.

"Nope, just thought I'd finish getting my stuff together for tomorrow," she responded. "Why?"

Mei's reply was a delighted giggle. "Great! Takeshi and Ari are over at my house, and we thought we'd go for a walk through the woods just off the road. You know, Takeshi told me he saw a bunch of creepy old shrines down there once. We were gonna see if we could find any. D'you wanna come with us?"

Chihiro gulped; those little shrines . . . could they possibly have anything to do with that bizarre memory she had, or the story she'd told her parents? For whatever reason, a strange sense of foreboding flooded the pit of her stomach. It wasn't wise for Takeshi and the others to goof off around those shrines, though she couldn't precisely put her finger on why she got that feeling. Anyway, that dense thicket of trees and shrubbery had always been distinctly eerie, and the thought of taking a casual little stroll through the dirt pathway that wound its way through the forest was more nerve-wracking than appealing.

Still, in spite of her misgivings, Chihiro sighed and conceded, "Y-Yeah. Sure. I guess so. I think my parents will want me to be back, early, though – my mom thought it would be fun to cook this big last dinner together before I leave for school. Just me and my mom and dad, y'know?" As if to punctuate her sentence, a soft, slightly disjointed little laugh escaped from her parted lips, and she found herself sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck.

"Okay, okay, we'll have you back in time for dinner!" Mei agreed. "Chihiro, are you sure you're okay with this? You sound like you've seen a ghost."

Another sigh. "Of course – I'm fine. I guess I'm just nervous about tomorrow. Um . . . anyway, so do you just want me to meet you guys at your house?"

"Yeah, that'd be great," Mei chirped, her friend's apprehensions already forgotten in favor of her usual excitement. "And then we'll head down to the woods from there. See you in a little while, then!"

There was a barely-audible click from the other side of the line, and Chihiro shook her head, amused as always by her friend's inability to conceal her eagerness. Hanging up her own phone, she headed into the television room, where her mother and father were seated, looking over the little booklet they'd received in the mail from Chihiro's university, 'oohing' and 'aahing' over the pictures of the campus included inside. Meandering into the room, she almost felt the slightest bit guilty for asking their permission to go out for a while when this was the last full day they would have with one another before she moved away. Still, this was her last day with Mei and the others, too, and she had the feeling that her parents would be understanding of that, at least.

"Hey, guys," she said by way of greeting, lifting her hand in an awkward little wave. As if on cue, Mr. and Mrs. Ogino lifted their heads, curious for a moment, and upon spotting their daughter, their expressions simultaneously changed into upbeat little smiles. "What're you doing?"

With a rueful little laugh, her mother propped her cheek against the palm of her hand and said, "Oh, we were just browsing through that letter from school. It's a beautiful place, Chihiro, you're going to absolutely love it."

"Did you see here that they won an award for their writing program?" her father interjected, eyes bright with enthusiasm. "That must mean all your classes really will be the best money can buy."

It was Chihiro's turn to grin now; it seemed her parents were just as excited as she, perhaps even more so. "Yeah, I can't wait," she replied with a little laugh, moving to sit down beside them on the sofa. "I finished getting all my stuff packed up a few minutes ago. Maybe we can start getting things loaded up this evening so we don't have to do it all in the morning."

"I'm sure that'll be just fine, honey," said Mrs. Ogino, reaching out and stroking the tips of her fingers affectionately through Chihiro's long, dark hair. With a sigh, she added wistfully, "I just can't believe this is really happening. It seems like only yesterday you were still a little girl, clinging to my leg whenever you got scared."

"Agh – Mooommm," Chihiro groused, though her displeasure and embarrassment with such an open display of affection was mostly feigned. The grimace on her face slowly but surely fought its way into a smile once more, and she said, "It's not like I'm going to be gone forever. I'll call as often as I can, and I'm gonna come home for breaks and stuff anyway. Don't worry." Somewhat awkwardly, she reached out and gave her mother a tiny pat on the hand, the smile on her face turning much more genuine now.

Her mother seemed to take a moment to stiffen her resolve before responding. "I know," she concluded at last, "but that doesn't mean I won't miss you all the same. But as long as you're happy, your father and I will be, too. And we're so proud of you, sweetheart."

It was her father's turn to chuckle now, a low rumble resonating deep in his chest. "You bet we are," he cut in, loud and proud as always. "You've worked hard all through school; if anyone's earned their chance at a good education, it's you. Seems like you just grew up overnight sometimes."

The grin returned to Chihiro's face as its own rueful ghost, and she leaned her head against her mother's shoulder, squeezing her father's hand affectionately for a moment before gently releasing it. "I'm going to miss you both, too," she confided, though of course she thought that much would be obvious already. "Hey, are we still on for that big dinner tonight? I looked up recipes and printed them out earlier, so we could try those and have a little fun with it."

Mrs. Ogino gave a light shrug, raising her eyebrows thoughtfully. "I don't see why not," she reasoned. "Just as long as we have all the ingredients we need here at home already. It'll give you plenty of practice," she tacked on with a conspiratorial wink in Chihiro's direction, "for when you have to cook by yourself at school."

"Okay." There was a brief pause, and then Chihiro remembered her initial reason for entering this conversation in the first place. "Oh, hey, Mom? Dad? I just got off the phone with Mei – she, Takeshi, and Ari are going to go for a walk, and they wanted me to come with them. I made them promise to get me back here before dinner, so I won't be long. Is it okay if I head out for a while?" Technically, she was a legal adult, and didn't necessarily need to ask permission, but all the same, she thought it only courteous; it was her last day here, after all, and her parents might well have wanted to spend time with her.

Thankfully, they didn't seem too deterred. "Sure," her father said with a nod. "Just be sure to wear your good hiking shoes. We don't want another accident like the time your soles wore out and you fell down that muddy hill, remember?"

Chihiro cringed; that memory wasn't likely to leave her mind anytime soon. She'd been fifteen years old then, but even now she could still vividly recall bumping into every twig and thorn the entire way downhill. "Yeah, I will," she agreed. "Thanks, guys. I'm gonna go ahead and get on my way; I'll be back soon, though," she assured them once again as she rose from her seat.

"Bye, then, honey," said her mother with a wave, "and have a good time. Take your cell phone with you! Call if you need anything!"

"Okay!" called Chihiro over her shoulder as she headed up to her room once again to retrieve her hiking shoes. "See you later!"

And yet, despite her happiness with the fact that she'd get to see her friends, when she set out for the evening and the front door shut behind her, she couldn't help but have the strange feeling that it would be the last time she'd see her house again for a long while.


Mei's house was at the end of the street, a modest two-story nearly identical to Chihiro's, except for the fact that the exterior was soft yellow rather than periwinkle blue. When Chihiro arrived, Takeshi, Mei, and Ari were already waiting outside, laughing boisterously where they stood in a circle on the front lawn. She pulled into Mei's driveway and parked her bike next to Takeshi's, hopping off and headed over to greet them where they all waited, each sporting ear-to-ear grins. They'd all been friends since they were around ten or eleven years old; when Chihiro had first moved to town, she'd been lonely at school for the first few weeks or so. Mei, Ari, and Takeshi had taken it upon themselves to sit next to her at lunch every day, and as the years had gone by, they'd formed a bond so strong, they were almost scared to leave for separate colleges now that the time had finally come.

"Hey, you finally made it," Mei greeted, laughing and pulling her elaborate braid of sleek black hair over her slim shoulder. "I was starting to wonder if you were going to show up at all!" From anyone else, the words might have come across as demanding or passive-aggressive, but from Mei, they were just as playful as everything else she always said, her brown eyes lively and friendly as ever.

"Sorry," said Chihiro with a shrug and a soft laugh. "I couldn't help it. My parents are being gloomy empty-nesters already, and I haven't even left yet. It's depressing. I felt bad just going out by myself."

"My parents'll probably be throwing a party in the streets when I'm finally outta their house," said Takeshi, scrubbing his hand sheepishly through his spiky hair – which, Chihiro noticed, he had recently died so blonde that it almost looked snowy white. "Can't say I blame 'em – I'm ready to move out."

Ari, the only one of the group who had decided to stay at home rather than pursue a four-year education, gave a thoughtful little smile and said in her usual shy way, "I'm really happy for you guys. I'm sure you're going to have a lot of fun. Just don't forget about me, okay?"

"Of course not!" Chihiro cried earnestly. "I'll call – and we can video chat sometimes, too, right, Mei? Takeshi?" she glanced between the two of them, eyebrows raised expectantly; it was bad enough that Ari had to stay home and take care of her younger sister rather than go to school, but she certainly didn't need the added fear of her friends moving on without her to weigh her down.

"Duh!" Takeshi replied, as Mei said, "You bet!"

"We'd have to be idiots to not," Takeshi added, much to the approval of both Chihiro and Mei, who nodded vigorously in agreement.

Ari laughed at this, apparently not having anticipated such an overwhelmingly positive response. "Alright, alright, I believe you," she said, lifting a hand to adjust her glasses. "Now, are we going to go for that walk or not? Weren't you gonna show us those little shrines you were talking about, Takeshi?"

"Oh, yeah!" he answered, eyes widening as if the thought had only now occurred to him. "Come on, I think they were down this way . . ."

And without another moment's hesitation, they were off, trekking down the long, sloping hill behind their houses until the suburb disappeared and gave way to a thick forest, the asphalt under their feet turning into soft mud and crunching autumn leaves. The air was crisp and cool as they strode farther along, thankfully keeping them from getting winded too quickly; from somewhere deep within the woods, Chihiro could hear the trickling of a stream, and was vaguely reminded of the time she'd fallen into a river as a little girl.

Someone pulled me from the water, she recalled to herself, brow furrowing, deep in thought. But who was that? If only I could just remember even a little bit . . . I think it was him. The same boy I told my parents about . . . but he's not real. None of it was real . . . but I want it to be.

Squaring her shoulders, Chihiro drew in a deep breath, shaking her head and firmly chasing the thoughts out of her mind. As far as she was concerned, none of that was real, and it did no good to dwell on the past, anyway. Besides, how could she be so sure that she hadn't just imagined the entire thing? She'd been frightened of moving to a new home back then, and upon getting separated from her parents and lost on the other side of that tunnel, she must have just dreamed up everything, convinced herself that the shadows and the old statues were actually spirits, sentient beings who could speak and feel. All that she knew was that it had been eight years, and if she hadn't found the answers by now, then she never would, so there was no good in constantly fixating on it.

After what seemed like an eternity of wandering through the forest, the group drew to a halt. They'd walked far enough downhill to have arrived at the little off-road path that Chihiro knew so well – it was the same shortcut her father had used (or tried to, anyway) to get to their house the day they'd first moved here. Sure enough, the shrines that had fascinated her back then – even now, to her eighteen-year-old mind, they still looked like cute little houses – still stood in a neat little row now, though time had weathered them and left them covered in moss and leaves. Awestruck, Chihiro was the first to step forward, sinking to her knees to brush away the grime and debris.

If there really are spirits in this place, she thought, I have to be sure and give them their respect.

"Hey, Chihiro," called Mei from over her shoulder. She rose slowly to her feet and looked back questioningly as her friend continued, "Do you . . . know this place or something?"

Chihiro frowned, teetering for a moment between how precisely she wanted to choose to answer that question. "I . . . I've been here before, when I was little," she said at last. "If we keep walking down that way –" here she paused just long enough to point off to the right, "I can't remember exactly, but I think there's a little clearing there where we could stop and rest for a little while."

Her friends nodded in agreement, and Ari piped up, "We might as well. It is kind of creepy down here."

"How exactly did you know about these shrines, anyway, Takeshi?" said Mei, looking more bemused than nervous. That figured – Mei had always been more of a thrill-seeking type.

Takeshi shrugged, jutting out his lower lip for a moment or two as he considered it. "I dunno, I was just wandering around here one day and almost tripped over 'em," he explained. "They were so covered in leaves and gunk that I couldn't see them at first. But they are kinda weird little things, aren't they? I wonder who they're supposed to represent."

Despite the nagging feeling that she should know this, Chihiro shook her head and muttered, "No idea. But I wish someone would keep them a little cleaner. They're obviously important to someone, or they wouldn't still be here after so long."

"Let's go, you guys," Ari piped up, reminding Chihiro eerily of just how scared she'd been as a young girl when she'd seen this place, and her parents had wanted to explore further inside. That was when I found the spirit world – no, that was when I got lost inside and imagined everything. "Where was that place you were talking about, Chihiro?"

Snapping back to attention, she blinked and moved away from the shrines completely now, heading in what she felt was the proper direction. "Um . . . this way, I think," she concluded, waving her hand behind her back to indicate for her friends to follow her. "Come on, guys."

Wordlessly, they moved together through the forest, following the winding dirt path until at last it trailed off into the clearing, just as she'd expected all along. Yet, as she stepped through the trees and drew closer to her destination, she gasped, surprised by what she found. There before her, standing massive and imposing like the gaping maw of a massive lion, was the very tunnel she'd gotten lost behind all those years ago, still looking as forlorn and empty as always. She had completely forgotten that it was right here, and seeing it after all this time left her jarred, unnerved, standing as tense as though she'd had a bucket of ice dumped down the back of her shirt. Leaves skittered along the ground at her feet, drawn to the opening of the tunnel as though it were breathing, itself, drawing them into its lungs. It's like it's pulling us in, she couldn't help but think, amazed into silence.

"Whoa," said Mei just off to her right, and when Chihiro looked over to face her, she could see that her friend's eyes were wide with astonishment. "I wonder where that thing leads to."

Chihiro's stomach was in knots, as though it were a pit of vipers. "I . . . don't know," she forced herself to say, though she had the distinct feeling that, in fact, she did. "Maybe it's been filled in on the other side. It looks way too deep to see where it opens up again."

To her surprise, even Mei seemed to hesitate. "Well . . . maybe we shouldn't take a chance on it," she reasoned, taking the slightest step back. "There's been a lot in the news lately about teens disappearing – being taken away – maybe that's where . . . " her voice trailed off, unable to finish the sentence, but Chihiro got the message loud and clear, and somehow couldn't bring herself to agree.

"N-no," Chihiro answered, with the slightest shake of her head. "No, I think this place is safe."

"What makes you so sure of that?"

Rather than respond, Chihiro paused and allowed the silence to settle in. To be completely frank, she wasn't at all certain of how she knew – she just did. There was no possible way she could explain this to Mei, though, or even Ari or Takeshi, who had always been even more impulsive and prone to rely on instinct than she. Instead, she simply stepped forward, swallowing hard and staving off her apprehensions; if there were ever a time to take this chance, it had to be now. She would leave tomorrow for school, after all, and would never get another opportunity to find out for sure what lied beyond that tunnel; once and for all, she would finally get to know if the dream had been real all along.

"Wait here for a minute," she told Mei, still staring, transfixed, at the tunnel. "I want to get a closer look, okay?"

At this, Ari darted forward, having been standing off to the left the entire time. "Are you crazy, Chihiro?" she cried. "There's no telling what's on the other side of that thing!"

"I'll be careful," she reassured her friend, doing her best to at least maintain her composure for this long. "I just – I'm curious about something. If I take longer than five minutes, just come in and try to look for me. I won't go far."

Without waiting for her friends to respond, she moved forward, edging closer to where the tunnel began, trying her utmost to keep from shivering as the chilly breeze wafted over her exposed skin. Clenching her hands into tight fists at her sides, she lifted her chin and continued to walk, until at last she crossed over from the dirt road onto the tunnel's cobblestone pathway, the darkness washing over her like a particularly strong wave. Already, she had scarcely taken two steps and the wind seemed to change; the air seemed almost charged with an electrical sort of energy, lifting the soft hair at the back of her neck and breaking her arms out in gooseflesh. For a moment, she paused, glancing over her shoulder, but she could no longer see Ari, Mei, or Takeshi on the other side. Her heart jumped in her throat, panic immediately shooting through her veins.

"H-hey . . . guys?" she called back, but the only answer she received was the sound of her own voice echoing against the tunnel's plaster walls. After a second's pause, she took a deeper breath and decided to try again, louder this time. "Ari! Mei! Takeshi! Are you still there?"

Just like the first time, her response was only the noisy howling of the wind as it rushed through the tunnel, her only companion . . . for now, anyway. Fear rose like bile in the back of her throat, but she refused to crumble to pieces already; she wasn't lost, and for all she knew, her friends just couldn't hear her, as far into the tunnel as she'd gone. She would simply have to keep moving forward, just long enough to take a look and get the answers she'd yearned for all this time. There was nothing to lose, so long as she remained calm and careful. Strengthening her resolve, she nodded to herself and continued moving forward, until at last, she could see the tunnel begin to open up on the other side. She quickened her pace until all she could hear was the sound of her rubber soles slapping against the ground, and before she knew it, she exited the tunnel and strode right into a beautiful meadow, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Just like the one I remembered, she found herself thinking, and for the first time it dawned on her that perhaps it wasn't her imagination, perhaps she'd been right all along.

She took another tentative step forward, and only then did she notice that there was someone standing not ten feet away from her – a boy, his gaze intently fixed onto hers.

And she screamed.