Despite Haku telling me my instructions I stayed where I was for a long time, moping in a corner trying to figure out how it went from noon to six thirty in a matter of minutes and how that lake filled with water in the five to ten minutes I was gone.
Somehow I found myself crying into my knees. I was beyond frightened; what would happen to me if I didn't get a job? Worst of all what would happen when I didn't come back for lunch? My teacher would tell my parents and then what?
I thought about mom and about how much she would worry when they couldn't find me or that I left my cell phone in my desk at school. Would they find my lunch on the forest road? Get a grip Chihiro! You need to focus and find the boiler man. You can't let Haku go through so much trouble over nothing. Slowly I lifted my head and wiped away tears before walking to the back garden gate.
There was a long set of stairs that led down the mountain, with no handrail to protect me from falling to my death on the train tracks below. Slowly I inched down the stairs by stubbornly sitting on the rail and dipping my toe against the next step like a scared child trying to jump in the neighborhood pool. Slowly I inched my way onto the step and repeated my suit up until I reached a missing step.
A bit clumsily I stepped over it and managed to lose my footing sending me running (and screaming) down the rest of the stairs. I didn't stop running until I ran smack dab into a side wall. I stood there with my face against the cold cinder trying to slow my racing heartbeat. Slowly I peeked my head to the side to see the boiler room entrance a few flights down.
"Really?" I groaned.
I let out a thin sigh and slowly eased my way down the stairs with my back against the wall until I made it to the boiler room.
Angry hissing steam leaked through the unfitted rusted door. I tried to peak through the dusty cracked square window but couldn't see anything. Once again I let out another groan and poked the doorknob to make sure it wasn't hot. Slowly I peak my head inside, the boiler room hallway was made up of long fat pipes screaming hot grey steam. The steam kissed my cheeks as it blew in my face, making my school uniform billow against my body.
I slowly stepped inside and felt the heat of the boiler room crash against me. Sheepishly I peeked my head around the corner so I can look into the main boiler room. Little puff balls of soot scuttled across the ground carrying large reflective lumps of coal. At a tall wooden bench like bed was a man with six arms running the boiler room. He wore pitch black sun glasses and had a scruffy brown mustache that covered his mouth.
"The boiler man," I whispered.
His ears perked and he snapped his head in my direction. My skin froze as a long stretched out arm reached out and grabbed the back of my uniform, pulling me up in the air. I instantly panicked "LET ME DOWN!" I screamed kicking at the air.
He pulled me over so I was face to face with him "Let me go this instant!" I snapped pouting at him and trying not to break down in hysterics.
"Chihiro… It can't be." he muttered barely making a rustle with his mustache.
I softened "What… how did you…"
Gently he set me down in a small corner "It's been so long… Haku said you weren't coming back…" he muttered reminiscing of a time I didn't know happened.
"What are you going on about?" I asked, my eyes drifting to the soot now watching me with their stale eyes.
The boiler man scratched his chin "Nothing just an old man babbling."
"Anyway Haku told me to ask you for a job!" I snapped.
"He did, did he?" the boiler man sighed "I'm sorry but I have all the workers that I need." He waved me off his dark sharpened nails.
"Please sir!" at that moment a wood block door opened and in stepped a woman with long brown hair and warm black eyes. She wore a soft cotton pink bath house uniform with a blue apron around her waist. She carried a wooden basket and a plate and bowl filled with food.
"Break time." She ignored me completely as the soot balls quickly scuttled to her jumping up and down as she flicked multi-colored star shaped candy to them. "Glad to see you guys are finally getting along, it seems like every day you guys are arguing over something."
She looked up for a second and saw me in the corner where the boiler man had placed me "no way…" she muttered. She quickly stood up dropping the remaining candy on the soot balls "It can't be… a human," she said ignoring what she was going to say previously.
"That's my granddaughter." The boiler man said taking his food from her and taking a bite of shrimp tempura. "She came to visit again asking for work. Take her to Yubaba I'm sure her old job is still open."
The woman just stood there and stared at me for a few moments "You can't be serious Kamaji!? This isn't her is it?"
Kamaji nodded "Yup, now take her to Yubaba before a frog sees her, Lin."
Lin stared at me a little more, I saw a few tears welt up in her eyes but she blinked them away "Fine, come on little girl."