A young woman lay alone in a large grassy field surrounded by trees. She stared up at the sky lost in memory's of the past, day dreaming of a promise. The field looked like a sleeping monster breathing in time with the dancing wind. A bubbling brook ran through the trees at the edge of the field singing it's lullaby. The girl stirred slowly sitting up a dreamy look still on her face. The breeze lifted her pony tailed hair and the sunlight glinted off the sparkling purple hair band. In the distance a train called out barely audible. She smiled sadly as the last of the memory left her thoughts and returned her to the present. Deciding it was time to leave, the woman gathered the remains of her lunch and placed it in her small bag. She had searched this way many times before, but was still not able to return to that magical place from eleven years ago. The plaster building was gone and with it the entrance to a world now only found in her dreams. she stood slowly and slipped on her sandals. Her green dress swayed in the breeze reminding her why it was her favorite. "Haku." she whispered to the wind. Though she knew no answer would come she still waited a few moments before turning away and walking out of the field.
A shadow behind a tree watched the woman walk slowly out of the clearing as she left he whispered "Chihiro." then lifted into the sky flew with the wind.
Chihiro walked through town her shoes clip chopped along the warm cement sidewalk. As she slowly made her way towards the library, hoping that it would yield more information on how to make a return trip to the spirit world. Though most of what she found was old folk tales of people getting spirited away by evil Kitsune's and being tricked into this or that. Very little is ever mentioned about handsome green-eyed river spirits, but she still hoped that something would lead her back to him. The shops towering above her with large windows advertising the many goods and nick knacks being sold. People on the streets smiled and waved to her as she passed by and she waved back. She knew this was the routine in the small town smile, wave and be friendly in hopes of new gossip. She inwardly groaned and then sighed, she played the game too. To her it was like a dance they'd greet her, she'd greet them. They'd both ask how the other was doing. Then they say there good byes and dance off to the next person and repeat. As she rounded the corner to the library the breeze picked up again and ruffled her hair and lightened her mood as little pink petals blew past her face. The library was her favorite place in this small town. A small park covered in trees and flowers wrapped around the building, making it bright and colorful on this humid spring day. A good feeling warmed her heart. even if she didn't find what she was looking for it would be a good day.
She walked through the aisles grabbing any book that looked like it might be useful. By the time she got to the third aisle she had a stack too big to see over. She and her wobbly stack slowly made their way down the aisle. Then suddenly her foot caught on something and she stumbled. As she over compensated trying to catch herself her foot caught on another something and she tumbled into one of the shelves knocking a book from the top loose which tumbled onto her head. she glared at the offending object, but the over turned step stool just laid there, so she gathered her wits and her books and went to the table. The book that had fallen on her head was green with a silver dragon on it. it had an attached woven bookmark with three jade beads arranged from medium, big and then smallest at the end just above a small tassel. the book was missing the usual library labeling. she opened it thinking that someone must have mistakenly put it on the shelf. Inside the cover in beautiful curvy handwriting it said "This book belongs to Ogino Chihiro". She stared dumb founded at the book unable to process what she had just read. She reread it three times and then closed the book, then opened it again to see if it had changed. Closing it again she contemplated putting it back on the shelf and pretending she hadn't seen it. Then settled on a thought "she had come here looking for answers what if the answers she was looking for were right in front of her. " She opened and read the first page.
"It was like any other bright summer day I watched a small girl playing at the river's edge. She wore a frilly pink summer dress and matching shoes that sat at the river's edge. she had earth brown hair and a bright smile that lit up her face as she followed a passing butterfly. I smiled to see the child's joy. A voice called "Chihiro," and the child looked up. "it's time to come in." said the feminine voice. The child ran to get her shoes and hurry inside, but slipped on the wet grass knocking her little pink shoe into the water. The small girl reached for her shoe and promptly fell in after it. I raced for the child and lifted her out of the fast moving water. then retrieved her little pink shoe and placed it on the grass beside her."
Chihiro paused Knowing who had written this book. She cradled it to her chest and decided that this was definitely what she was looking for. she quickly stuffed the book in her bag and grabbed the large stack and deposited it on the to be put away shelf trying not to run till she left the library.
She raced through the streets towards home. Home was a small cream colored house with a green door and trim, two houses down from a large apartment complex. The small yard was covered in fregrent flowers with a small dry pond at the corner and a white picket fence surrounded the whole thing. After the car crash a few years ago Chihiro moved here. It was small but not as lonely as her old house had felt after her parents passed. She felt bad selling her parents house but she just couldn't stay there any longer.
She dumped her bag on the couch and went to the cottage style kitchen to make a sandwich. then sandwich in hand she flopped onto the couch and and pulled the book out of her bag and opened it to where she had left off. She cuddled down into the couch and read of her old adventures for hours, as she arrived at Zenibias house she finally placed the book mark in and closed the book. The house had grown dark. She turned on lights and started dinner.
She ate out on the back porch and watched the solar powered lights come on in her garden. When all had eaten and cleaned up, she grabbed the book and filled the bath. She set the book on the top of a stack of books that lived on a stool in the bathroom next to the tub. she washed and then got comfortable in the tub sinking into the hot water. Then she dried her arms off and grabbed the book and began to read again. As she neared the end she realized that there was more then just her adventure in the book. She noticed the water had grown cold. She left her book on the stool splay out. She put on her favorite pajamas, grabbed the book and walked to her room. she curled up in bed and continued reading. it seemed Haku had been watching over her since she left.
"She came back to the field again, I wish I could talk to her but i cant get through into that world."
at the end of the book there was a line
"On the night of the full moon the gates will open for you to pass.
See you soon." was scrolled across the last page with Haku's name underneath it.
Chihiro flung her covers to the side and ran outside and looked up at the sky the moon hung like a big orange in the sky. She ran back in and looked at the calendar' Full moon tonight' she panicked, ran upstairs. She grabbed clothes, her few precocious items and the book. Then She ran to the door threw on her shoes and a light sweater. Out the door she went. The closed shops on either side made the town look deserted. She continued racing hoping to get there before morning. The pounding of her feet on the cement mimicked the pounding of her heart. She wasn't going to make it. Suddenly a breeze kicked up at her back and a gentle push sped her through town. The path was dark but she knew every bend. As she passed she startled a bird and it took flight. The clearing was near and then what would she do, how would she get across? She ran harder anxiety pushing her forward. As she rounded the bend she ran straight into a little smiling statue and a dark red building rose up behind it. She paused only for a moment and the a smile spread across her face. She ran through the tunnel and the waiting area to the beautiful field on the other side. Where a beautiful green-eyed dragon waited for her.
The End