Might just be an idea that I'll scrap later. Leave reviews and tell me what you guys think! Thanks~!
I.
It was a fine morning. A fine, bright and musical morning with not a cloud in sight nor a disturbance in the air. The weather was relatively warm and light breeze caressed the tree leaves and flowers. Birdsongs were loud and of abundance; today was the ideal spring morning.
Outside, the citizens of the mountainous town wandered about, doing daily activities such as bike riding, gardening or chores. Children played in the stream by the marina and their laughter carried in the wind like a carefree song of sorts-it was refreshing. The small shops were busier than usual; the sakura festival was around the corner and everyone was gathering the necessary items to enjoy the event.
Down the dusty path leading to the mountains, small houses were aligned the walkway which is where the majority of the population lived. It was quite a little town, mostly forgotten by the outside world considering its location. It was in the middle of mountain ranges and rivers. In order to even reach it here, one would have to travel days along the rocky hills or sail from the nearest city, which would also take quite a while. Visitors were scarce and shipments came almost biweekly, even monthly if the weather were bad.
Nonetheless, Wasureru Valley was a beautiful place with all the necessary supplies it needed it survive. That was probably the reason why the people were so joyful.
Sunlight filtered through the semi-open shades of a peculiar home, invading the room and engulfing it all in a bright, warm embrace. The light fell upon the eyelids of a young girl who in turn stirred and muttered a few unkind things. With the persistence of the sun, she finally woke up and watched the dust particles dance a bit in the air before her eyes finally focused themselves.
She sat up, yawned, and moved strands of brown hair from the inside of her mouth. She stretched and shaded her eyes from the intense sunlight. Gazing out the window and at the blooming sakura tree near her window, she noticed the birds looking right back at her. They were small gold finches that seemed to watch her every move. The girl looked away and shook her head. She swung her legs to the side and off of her bed to touch the warm wooden floor.
The clock on her bedside read "11:56am". It was well in to the morning now.
"Chihiro-san, are you awake?" A face peeked in the doorway and an elderly woman with rosy cheeks entered, bowing as soon as she saw Chihiro awoken. "Goodmorning, Chihiro-san."
"Goodmorning, Anagi-san." Chihiro bowed deeper and added, "please, you don't have to be so formal with me. I'm the guest here after all."
"That may be true," Anagi said and straightened herself and smiled softly, "but you are a woman, aren't you? I have to speak to you like you're an adult, don't I?"
Chihiro rubbed the back of her neck and the embarrassment showed on her cheeks. "Ah, I'm only eighteen, Anagi-san. I-I'm not a real woman yet."
Anagi decided to drop the topic and she sighed. "Breakfast is ready whenever you'd like to come eat. Today is your last day Wasureru, right?"
"That is correct." Chihiro tied her hair with a shimmering red hair-tie. "I think I've been a pest long enough in your home, though I greatly appreciate you allowing me to stay."
"You were never a pest!" Anagi said quickly and shook her head, long white locks flowing. "Never think that, Chihiro-san. You are a sweet girl who has the biggest heart I've ever seen. It's a shame you must leave so suddenly, though. Weren't you planning on staying until the summer?"
Chihiro slipped on her sandals and gathered up her bathing materials. She slightly cringed at Anagi's persistence. "Something came up..."
Anagi noticed Chihiro's change in attitude and she bowed again, apologizing over and over. "Pardon my nosiness! I didn't mean to butt in to your personal life. I know you're a busy woman who's traveling for her own dreams and reasons-I shouldn't have been so nosy!"
Chihiro smiled and slung with white bath towel over her shoulder and waved off all of Anagi's apologies. "It's no big deal. Really. I just gotta follow my heart, wherever it decides on leading me. Wasueru was the perfect stop for my inspiration; I've made plenty of poems from observing everything here. But now it's time to move on, y'know?"
Anagi's eyes were wet from unshed tears and she immediately flung her arms around Chihiro and bawled in to her stomach. "Oh, you are such a wonderful girl, Chihro-san! I am blessed to have had you at my home! Never change! Never, ever!"
Chihiro laughed and tried to reassure the old woman of never changing. She patted her back and the fake smile on her face faded almost instantly. It sucked. It all really sucked.
Chihiro leaned in to the back of the square tub and placed her washcloth on her forehead, a signature sigh leaving her lips.
She was going to be on the move again. Camping out in forests, staying at local inns, meeting temporary people that seemed to be going to be around forever...This was the life she chose. The life of a wandering (sometimes starving) artist who was more or less running away from real world problems than chasing her own dreams. Like adult responsibilities for example. Paying rent for a shitty apartment in the city or car insurance for a car that loved to clonk out at any time. By now, Chihiro probably owed a ton of money to the insurance company.
So to avoid all of that, Chihiro decided to take her "poetry" and travel the country with what little money she had left over from working at the diner over the years. It wasn't enough to always be able to take taxis to her next destination, but it was enough to live off of...sometimes.
This arrangement wasn't all that bad though. Chihiro met a few publishing companies and thieving rich snobs who took a liking to her poetry and mediocre artwork. They liked how vivid the imagery was, like she was actually witnessing the events going on. They all seemed to extremely love "The Dragon Boy" saga. It was a fantasy that revolved around just that; a dragon boy who saved the day and fell in love with a beautiful little princess and fought evil witches and paper birds. It gained a lot of respect. And money.
Little did they know, "The Dragon Boy" was far from a figment of Chihiro's imagination.
"Which reminds me," Chihiro said aloud and dipped deeper in to the bath, groaning.
She had one of those dreams again. The dream on her old friends begging for her to return that that cursed world. The world of spirits and magic. The world of soot sprites and train rides in the middle of the ocean. The Spirit World.
Kamaji, Lin, all of them. Calling to the sky and praying that Chihiro would return to save them. From what, though? She could never make it out. It was always static when she'd ask them what was wrong. It couldn't be anything too dangerous, though. Yubaba was forced to step down from head of the Onsen after enslaving the workers and almost tricking Chihiro in to staying in the Spirit World forever. So she couldn't have been the threat.
Chihiro removed the washcloth from her forhead and bit the inside of her cheek.
Why did she care, anyway? Those people didn't remember her. She was a little kid at the time and she and her parents caused nothing but disturbances their whole stay. What good was Chihiro to them still? It wasn't like she could go back there. Stumbling upon that realm was a complete accident. Surely the spirits made sure no "accident" like that would ever happen again.
Then again...it wouldn't hurt to just be able to say hello to them all, even for a brief moment. To see Kamaji and the little soot sprites working hard in the boiler room, oh, what Chihiro would give to see that! And Lin, sassy and tough, the only female friend she'd ever made. She wondered how Lin was holding up after being freed from forcefully working at the Onsen. Did she stay? Leave? So many questions remained unanswered.
And what about him?
"What about him?" Chihiro closed her eyes and fought off the rising blush in her cheeks. "He was rude and apathetic, even after everything."
That wasn't true and she knew it. Haku, though sometimes cold to others and quite bossy, was nothing but kind to Chihiro after regaining his freedom. He assisted her in saving her parents and led her back to the human world.
"Will we meet again sometime?"
"Sure we will."
"Promise?"
"Promise. Now go...and don't look back."
"Why?" Chihiro asked herself and tried hard not to dwell too long on that memory. It was, evidently, to no avail. "Why couldn't I look back? Did Haku even really care to make that promise? Doubt it." She ran her fingers through her hair and shut her eyes.
Stupid dream, stupid past, stupid everything! All she needed to focus on was getting her life back on track, not the past and little wishful thinking. She had a poem to send by the end of the week and she hadn't even started on it yet. After the bath she was going to eat and nap before hitting the road and making her way to the city. Lucky for her, the weekly bus was coming that night to go back there and she had more than enough money to pay for the fare.
Day dreaming was going to stop right then and there. In order to achieve her true dream, she was going to have to forget about all of them, even Haku. She was eighteen for goodness sake! Way too old for any of this.
Chihiro stood up and smoothed her hair back. The water cascaded down her long less and back in to the tub and she stepped out on to the smooth marble.
"New days begin now." She thought and patted her underarms dry. "No more distractions. If anything, I'll take those pills to stop my dreams if I need to. No reason to think about them any longer." She nodded. "Right!"
