A/N – New chapter! The first chapter was so short, I felt I would drop this one today as well so you'd have more to enjoy. See if you can guess what other Studio Ghibli movie I'm tying to this one. Again, you don't need to have seen it to get this, I just think other fans will probably enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. Thanks always for reviews
~.~
A left turn later found Haru at the park, contently lying in the grass with her eyes closed. The sunlight bathed her in warmth under the cloudless blue sky as song birds called to one another in nearby trees. In the distance, Haru could hear the rush of weekend traffic.
"Perfect," She smiled, "This is just what I needed."
A short time later, Haru sat up, turning her head from side to side, searching. "That's strange, I thought I heard carnival music just now." Brushing the hem of her skirt, she wandered towards the tree line of the nearby forest.
Absently, she noted that the birds had stopped singing and in their silence, there was indeed spirited carnival music, getting louder with each step Haru took towards the forest.
Parting away the branches, the young girl abruptly found herself in a wide clearing, which, considering the grove of trees she had walked in to was a small one - this was a very surprising find. All around her were empty stalls, lined up to create a walkway that stretched out to her left and right as far as she could see. Each one was brightly painted with signs and colorful banners tied from their roofs. Smells of spiced fruit, sweet candy and roasting meat was so thick on the air she could almost taste it.
Haru tucked her arms behind her back and strolled to the nearest stall. This one was lined with plates of cooling brown pies. On the upper shelf was a colorful array of tins of sweets, each with a playful animal picture on the front. She leaned over and picked out the one that had a smiling cat, naturally.
The adventurer turned the tin over in her hands. It was fairly heavy and as she looked for a brand name or even a list of ingredients, the candies rolled around inside, sounding a little like a coin jar rattling.
"Huh. How strange, no name, nothing at all." She peered closer at the cat on the front. "And I could have sworn you just winked at me!"
"You!" Came a frantic high-pitched yell.
Startled, Haru looked down the line of stalls to see a panicked frog running towards her at great speed, half hopping on it's back legs. When the frog came closer, it was clear it was dressed in a black formal ceremony robe, complete with a tiny hat and shoes. The clothes-wearing amphibian came to a stop before her, the top of his head reaching her hips. Before she could get a word out, tiny, webbed hands reached up and started pushing her back towards the trees.
"Oh goodness, oh no no! You, leave, now!" He dug his feet in to the hard ground, trying to force her larger frame back as if by sheer will.
"Excuse me!" Haru said indigently while trying to keep her footing as the frog relentlessly pushed.
"No! Absolutely not! No humans anywhere near the bathhouse! Not again!"
"Excuse me!" She said again, louder as she dug her feet in. "What bathhouse? That in the world are you talking about?"
The frog jumped back and eyed her with open distrust. "Oh no you don't! You aren't getting any answers out of me! I swear, every human that has had so much as a brush with the spirit world comes wandering on in here, rude as they please! Do you have any idea how hard my job has been?" He accused, pointing. "Constantly shoving you lot back out before nightfall? Ugh, it was so much easier in the old days."
Haru blinked a few times, trying to collect her thoughts. The part about being out before nightfall triggered the connection between this place and her own recent trip to the Cat Kingdom. "I am very sorry, I didn't mean to wander in here. Is this the Frog Kingdom, then?"
The frog blinked his wide eyes at her before bursting out in laughter. "Hardly. As if. The Frog Kingdom is an amazing place, far superior to this one! Why, you should only be so honored!"
Haru felt it best not to mention that if he had said yes, she would have run screaming back through the trees. The threat of being a cat forever hadn't been that terrible – being a frog would be unthinkable.
"And now!" The frog declared. "You must leave!" The little hands resumed their pushing.
"Hey now! No need to be rude! Can I at least purchase these?" She asked, lifting the candy tin.
Without looking up, the frog said, "Sure, fine, whatever. Take anything you'd like, just don't ever come back!"
"Ok, ok! I'm going, geeze!" She said, moving back towards the tree suddenly, which caused the frog to nearly slip forward and fall on his startled face.
"And don't come back!" He yelled again at her retreating figure. Sighing, the he unfolded a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped at his brow.
Once she crossed back in to her world, a ripple ran through the trees, like a tiny stone being dropped on to the surface of a still lake, as the doorway closed behind her. Only then, having caught his breath, did the frog think about her parting words.
"Wait…purchase what?"