Hey guys, and thanks again for continuing to read my third fanfic "Where the Wild Things Are." Sometimes I love the name, sometimes I hate it. I guess I'm just the author, and my opinion doesn't matter. LoL. Well, I'll get down to chapter two now! More to come!
Chapter Two: Back to Life?
"Sen… Sen, hurry up!" Chihiro snapped upward, looking around instantly for Lin. She ran down the corridor, her bare feet slapping on the wood flood. Chihiro pardoned herself, bowing to a customer that she nearly ran into. She turned the corner, looking around.
"Where are you?" she called out through the warm, steamy air.
"In the big tub, you dope. You got the bath token, right?"
Chihiro found the wooden token in her open palm and stared down at it. Long, slender fingers extended past her palm. She felt her long hair tied loosely behind her. This wasn't a dream. She dropped the wooden token, and it clattered noisily on the floor. Chihiro braced herself against the wall, taking deep breaths to keep from fainting. It was real…all real. The Radish Spirit lumbered along the corridor and stopped in front of her, his eyes lolling toward her. She drew back against the wall as the large, pallid form squatted down and curled its roots around the wooden tile. The spirit stood back up, his joints squeaking, and dropped the token into Chihiro's hand. She panicked, gripping the tile tightly as she ran the rest of the way to the room with the big tub.
"Jeez, I thought you would never come, you big dope," Lin said from inside the empty tub. Chihiro reluctantly walked over and knocked on the wall. A secret panel popped out and she reached inside, clipping the token securely, and pulled, watching it zip upward out of sight before closing the panel. She found a brush and, sighing, began to scrub.
"Did you have trouble with the foreman?" Lin asked, wiping sweat from her brow with her sleeve.
"No," Chihiro replied, "I don't remember. The last thing I remember was lying in bed at home."
Lin chuckled. "I would agree that it's a bed, but I wouldn't call this place home." She continued to scrub, gritting her teeth.
"I thought you were going to get a one-way train ticket out of here," Chihiro replied, moving to another dirty spot.
"You know I haven't found any tickets," Lin said. She scampered up the side of the tub, throwing her brush out onto the floor. Suddenly, a stream of boiling hot water poured into the tub.
"Hey!" Chihiro cried, losing her brush, "Ow!" She tried to climb up the sides of the tub, but her feet were too slick to grip. She slipped back down, immersed in the water. She came up sputtering, gagging against the burning stench of the herbs in the water. She looked upward to see a tall, lanky silhouette balanced on the edge of the tub, cloaked in steam. "Lin!" Chihiro exclaimed, choking on the water. "Help me!"
"No…you used the train tickets. My key to freedom. You used them for a stupid trip to save stupid Haku!" There was a splash in the water and the figure on the edge of the tub was gone. Chihiro felt a hand close around her ankle, pulling her under. She struggled as she felt strong feet on her shoulders, forcing her to the very bottom of the tub. Over the rumble of water pouring into the tub, Chihiro heard a distant voice. "You little brat. I'm stuck here because of you." Chihiro's lungs burned, the herbs in the water making her eyes feel even more on fire than her flesh. Bubbles slowly stopped coming from her mouth, the tiny pinpoints of life popping at the surface.
Chihiro jumped, unable to breathe. She ripped at the pillow and her throat, finally sucking in a long breath. She fell off the edge of her bed, smacking her head on the thinly-carpeted floor. She rubbed the back of her head, whining quietly. Her voice caught in her throat, though, as she heard her cell phone ring up on her desk. She scrambled over, grabbing it quickly.
"Hello?" she demanded. The line was silent, then rang in her ear. "Shoot!" she exclaimed, turning it on quickly. "Hello?" she said in a calmer voice.
"Chihiro, you should answer your phone faster. I almost had to leave you a voice mail."
"Sorry, Mom!" she exclaimed quickly, apologizing to her mother with a bow, even though she wasn't even there. "How's Dad?" she asked anxiously.
"The doctors said he would be okay eventually."
" 'Eventually'?" Chihiro repeated, her eyes widening.
"Yes. He suffered a heart attack, Chihiro. He has to go through rehab," her mother snapped heatedly. Chihiro was taken aback by how angry she sounded "Anyways. I'm going to be staying here at the hospital with your father. I want you in school tomorrow, you hear me?"
"Yes, ma'am," Chihiro replied meekly. Her mother hung up, then, and Chihiro was left with a dead line. She hung up slowly, shocked beyond feeling. The tears came again as she walked slowly down the stairs to their kitchen.
Two hours later, she washed her hands proudly, drying them with a white towel. She tightly covered the small pot of sukiyaki she had made, wrapping up a watch of warm steamed dumplings. After putting them in a picnic basket, she packed in a bento box full of white rice and two pairs of chopsticks. She closed the lid to the basket, feeling quite proud of herself. She hoped that she could surprise her mom with such a feast. Maybe it would get their minds off her dad for a while… "Oh! Almost forgot the soy sauce, sweet and sour, and mustard! Mom would never forgive me if I forgot the mustard!" She chuckled, but the noise sounded very hollow. An image of a gigantic pig bursting out of a pink sweater and a pair of khakis flashed into her mind. "It was all a dream!" she exclaimed, pounding her fists into her head, "I was dreaming!" She grabbed the basket and ran to her front door, throwing it open.
Yasuyo stood at her door, an expression of shock on his face, his closed fist frozen in mid-knock. "Oh, Yasuyo!" Chihiro cried, "I'm so glad you're here!" She rushed to him, wanting him to wrap his arms around her for comfort. He held up his hands to stop her in her tracks. She stepped back, her eyes widening, gaining a strange softness.
Yasuyo lost his words for a moment. Gaining his composure again, he nervously raked a hand through his spiked, bleached blonde hair. "Chihiro, I…I..." He gritted his teeth, his light blue eyes rolling as he nervously licked his lips. Chihiro's soft chocolate eyes tried to meet his. "Chihiro, I…gods, this is hard!' he grabbed a fistful of his loose jeans and squeezed tightly.
Chihiro took the opportunity to cut in. "Yasuyo, my dad is—"
"Chihiro, I need some time alone. We have to break up." He bowed low, his blue eyes squeezed tightly shut, as if by doing so he could shut out the pain she was feeling.
Chihiro's hear stopped. The picnic basket she had once been holding fell to the ground, the lid unlatching as the contents of the basket were vomited out onto the blue house's front stoop. Chihiro pushed by Yasuyo and ran, covering her face as she wished to hide the tears that cascaded from her eyes. She fan until she was rugged. Finally she collapsed face first in the dirt, sobs racking her whole body. When she gathered the strength to sit up, she found herself in a familiar place. Dense forest surrounded her, and selected beams of slender sunlight shone through small empty patches in the canopy. Tiny stone houses littered the mossy forest bottom. A stone spirit stood before her, one of its faces seeming to smile at her. It appeared to guard the intricate red plaster wall: the entrance into the Spirit World. "It was all a dream. It was then, and it is now," Chihiro murmured, struggling to her feet. She stood before the dark entrance, staring into the yawning maw of blackness.
"Sen…" Chihiro gripped her head. It was her imagination. Sen was not real! "Sen…" Chihiro clamped her hands over her hears, dark hair lacing with her fingers. The breeze picked up and, before she knew it, she was running the opposite direction. But the moral will has little power against the will of the gods. The red building's black mouth swallowed Chihiro up, depositing her into the place where her very own nightmares and delusions were born.
