Fruits of the Wait
I don't own Spirited Away. Miyazaki Hayao and Co. do.
Smiling, Chihiro calmly rocked back and forth in her ancient cherry wood rocking chair. Leaning into the chair, she slightly eased her old aching back. Just because of the fact her body had stopped keeping up with her mind, she wasn't going to let it slow her down.
"Gramma!"
"Gramma tell us the story again!"
"Please, tell it again!"
Her numerous grandchildren surrounded her, some crouching on the floor, some sitting, others standing. It was a rare family reunion between them all today, but her children were apparently worried about about her deteriorating health, and had planned this, possibly for the last time. They didn't know. They had tried to keep this a secret from their mother, but she had long known.
But it wasn't often she got to see all of her grandchildren at once. It was a good day today.
"Again?" Chihiro asked. "After all the times I've told the story to you, I'd think that by now you could tell me the story back by memory." she teased.
"But you tell the story better than any of us ever could!" one of older girls exclaimed.
The youngest of the whole bunch, a four year old boy piped up. "Pwetty pwease Gramma? With a chewry on towp?"
She chuckled. It had become sort of a tradition at these family gatherings for Chihiro to retell the story of her experience in the spirit world to the children. At, least they thought it was a story. A product of Gramma's overactive imagination.
But either way it entertained them, and their mesmerized faces lightened her heart from all the worries she had.
"Okay, okay," she grinned, laugh wrinkles around her eyes crinkling.
"It was when I was was still only about your age," she started pointing to the fourth oldest grandchild, a shy boy. "Can you imagine Gramma as a ten year old?" she asked. "Brown hair, no wrinkles?"
Little heads fervently shook their heads, eager for the start of the action.
"It all began when my father, your grandfather, took a wrong turn on the way to our new house we were going to move into..."
And for a small slot of time, her story whisked them away to a new world where witches and dragons flew, where spirits stopped by bath houses to relax. Where frogs talked, and pieces of paper came alive. Their eyes were glowing with captivation, mouths open with mesmerization, each child, from the youngest of three to the oldest of sixteen.
From the happy to the sad, the good to the bad, they experienced with Chihiro, who herself was reliving those times in her youthful days.
After a while, her story began to wind to a close. "As I began to walk away, Haku told me ' Don't look back.' So I walked away fighting the urge, and now, I wait to meet him again. I wait for him to return and come take me with him."
She smiled remembering that moment. The children sighed, sad that it was over, but feeling refreshed from the story.
Her daughter then walked in from the kitchen , smelling of cooking ham. Her long brown hair was wrapped in a braid, brown eyes twinkling. Many told her that she looked like her mother when she was younger. Patting her hands on her apron, she walked up to her mother.
"Still telling them that story again?" she asked. A nod from the group answered her question. "I swear, you tell it to them so much, soon enough they're going to start to think it's true," she chuckled.
"Anyways," she continued, "Dinner's ready." she announced. She stood there as the kids suddenly began to run out to the kitchen to eat.
"Single file, people, single file!" she called out unsuccessfully after them.
Sighing, she walked back to her sitting mother, rocking rhythmically back and forth, who was resting her eyes.
"You okay mom?" she asked.
"Yeah, just a little tired."
Chihiro's daughter smiled an whispered, "Okay mom, just come eat whenever you're ready. No rush." She gave her mom a quick peck on the the cheek and returned to the kitchen and its awaiting chaos.
Chihiro sunk back into the chair. She usually did get tired after telling the story, but not this much. She was really getting old, she sighed.
Life went by so fast. Before she knew it, she had graduated high school, gone to college, gotten married, got a job, had kids. Her husband died in a car accident, and her kids had grown up and gone to college, leaving her home alone. The kids got married, she retired, and the grandchildren were born. And now, they were growing up to a new generation before her eyes.
But she had never forgotten Haku. She had never forgotten his promise.
"We'll see each other again, I promise."
She had waited through all of that.
The sunlight outside somehow suddenly seemed brighter, shining through the window behind her. The sounds of shouts and yells from the kitchen seemed to fade out, slowly.
Chihiro's eyes began to close and drift. Just a short nap. And then she would go eat...
"Chihiro."
A familiar voice she hadn't heard in a while rang out behind her.
She froze. Chihiro knew who it was. She would never forget that voice, ever since that day.
Slowly, she turned back. There stood a young boy, black hair so dark it almost seemed dark. His clothes, white and blue, eyes stunning gray. His right hand was outstretched towards her, palms open. He hadn't changed at all since they last met.
"Haku."
But she couldn't move. Her arms, legs, body, were frozen.
No, her old body would not confine her now, she insisted to herself.
And in an instant she was free. She could move. She could walk. She could reach Haku's outstretched hand.
Her hand wasn't wrinkled anymore, but instead looked slightly transparent, like the time it was when she first met Haku, so many years ago.
"You came back." she whispered, voice steady and young.
He only smiled in response and pulled her closer. And in a flash, they both disappeared leaving Chihiro's old body, her empty shell behind.
"Mom?" Chihiro's daughter shouted out as she walked into the living room her mom was in. She was taking a bit too long to come in, so she was getting a little worried.
Her four year old son followed right behind her to Gramma.
Gramma was sitting back into the chair, eyes closed peacefully as if in a long, deep sleep, and smiling slightly. But she felt empty.
And he knew.
"Haku came and picked up Gwamma." he whispered. "He came back fowr Gwamma."
He smiled.
This was the fruits of her wait.
I pretty much just wrote this all as my hair was getting straightened for four hours, so it might be weird. Plus the "quotes" are kinda off, but as I said, I wrote this when I was getting my hair straightened and I haven't seen the movie for at least a year.
Yay! So how was it? Reviews would be appreciated as well as constructive criticism.