Spirited Again~
Prologue
"--hiro.... Chihiro!"
The
girl's eyes fluttered and shot open as she felt a hand on her
shoulder.
She turned around in her swivel chair. It was just her
father. She stifled a yawn. "Yes, Dad....?"
He simply
stood there, seemingly impatient.
"Chihiro. You do remember
what tomorrow is, don't you? You should really get going on your
homework instead of sleeping on it."
As if this statement
was a dose of super-stong caffeine, Chihiro jumped in her seat to
alertness. "Oh no...! No way! What am I doing sleeping here?"
She whined, her hands flying to her face in shock. She leapt out of
her chair and pushed past her father, making a mad dash out her room
and downstairs.
Her mother was seated at the kitchen table,
casually picking through a stack of bills or paperwork or such.
Chihiro bounded to the table, slamming her palms down on it with such
great force that her mother started, letting a few envelopes fly out
of her hands.
Clasping a hand to her chest, "Chihiro! What
on earth---"
Her daughter cut her off abruptly, staring into
her eyes. "Mom, Mom! Are we still going to explore that
abandoned amusement park tomorrow?"
Her mother sighed,
collecting the recently-scattered envelopes, straightening them out
on a pile. When she slowly looked up at Chihiro, vexation was clear
across her face. "We've been over this before. You have to get
ready for school. I know you have an early dismissal, but you're
still going to finish all your homework. Okay? Then I can promise you
that we're still going."
Chihiro groaned, and plopped down
into a chair. She wanted more than anything to go right that minute,
before the weekend ended. She had been trying to get this message
across to her parents, however she was being too discreet about it
for them to even take a hint.
Remembering something, Chihiro
suddenly looked back up at her mother. "Hey, Mom?"
"Hmm."
"Do
we know anyone by the name Haku?"
Her mother's interest was
piqued. She stared off into space for a few seconds, wondering what
this could be about, before turning to face her daughter, curiously.
"No, actually...Why do you ask, honey?"
Chihiro rested
her chin in her hands, both elbows on the table. She looked very
concentrated and confused as she proceeded to explain, "Well, I
had this strange dream just now--"
"You were asleep in
your room just now...?"
"Yeah, Mom...but....I had a dream. Everything was dark in it, and...Some boy was talking to me. He said his name's Haku. In my dream, we were talking to each other...and it felt so real........."