AUTHOR NOTES: These chapters will be brief, like the images on the screen.
I like writing descriptive imagery that is intertwined with angst (as all
my Lord of the Rings readers well attest to): it can take me a good deal of
time to come out with new chapters. Your patience and reviews
(constructive, please) are always welcome.
I must admit, this fic does not stem off of the quasi-uplifting end of the film: I think that Chihiro was indeed a happy and confident child, but then, as she got older, she began to wonder what had really happened. After all, as you age, you cannot depend on things like stories.that is the folly Miyazaki highlights in all his movies: the inability of adults to accept magic. In my story, Chihiro is fearful of this transition.
Anyway, here's the second chapter:
Part II - Seeking the Road
As soon as she had learned to drive, Chihiro had borrowed the car and sought the road that had, seven years ago, lead her to the world of the Spirits. Their names she could recall as easily as her own parents': Zaniba, Boh, Yubaba, Lin, Kamaji, No-Face, the Radish spirit, the River God, the staff of the great bathhouse that she had left behind. Then there was one who was gifted two names, as was she. He was the one whose face was slipping from her memory, and now, maturing, she knew soon it would be gone forever.
He was the force that gently drove her to the brink and made her seek the road again.
She drove for twenty minutes. The place had not been very far. She had thought of walking there many times since, but something in her heart had warned her, "No. No, Chihiro." Then, with more conviction, a low voice ordered: "Don't look back."
But she had to remind him, somehow, of his promise that had completed the cruel orders: "We'll meet again. I'm sure of it."
Now, as the trees sped by the windows of the little blue car like the brushstrokes of a giant's hand, she said silently aloud, "Haku," as though his name would summon him there, beside her. Wouldn't it be funny to turn her head a bit to the right to see a boy with serious gray eyes staring at her? A boy who possessed a voice deeper and more soulful than the years on his face?
The air smelled wet and green. A little sunlight snuck through the covering branches and dappled the ground. The rushing of air through the windows was like the roar of a mighty river.
She drove to the place she thought her father had taken the ill-fated turn but she found nothing. There was not a sign of a road, even one that might have been made long ago and was now overgrown with life. There was, as there always was, nothing.
She got out and walked around. Her sandaled feet left little impression on the springing moss. The yellow notebook felt heavy as a stone in her hand. And then, as much as she tried to suppress it, Chihiro began to cry. She fell to her knees like a child and wept her heart out, hitting the ground with the flats of her hands, shaking her head from side to side, glaring at the green world through blurry eyes.
Then, as abruptly as she had begun to cry, Chihiro stood and locked the car door. She put the book in her small bag and dashed the tears from her eyes. Her reflection could be seen in the streaked windshield: she was rather tall compared to her schoolmates; her legs were as awkwardly skinny as they had been in childhood. Her hair was still a shaggy brown mess that she had to pull together with that beautiful violet ribbon a monster and a witch had woven for her.
Chihiro closed her eyes and listened. No cars came by, so for a long moment she heard only the sounds of the wood. They were old and deep. She heard things she didn't recognize. She smelled plants more fragrant than any she had smelt before. There was the distant sound of running water.
When she opened her eyes, the blind vision was gone.
"Not today." And that was her choice. That was her power. She turned and began to unlock the car.
Then there was a whistling of wind that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Chihiro spun around and looked.
That hadn't been there before: that tiny, round, fat stone statue of some diminutive creature. And beyond.
A green, overgrown road wound away out of sight.
Without a second thought, she ran as fast as she could, plunging deep into the forest, the magic road opening wider and wider before her.
I must admit, this fic does not stem off of the quasi-uplifting end of the film: I think that Chihiro was indeed a happy and confident child, but then, as she got older, she began to wonder what had really happened. After all, as you age, you cannot depend on things like stories.that is the folly Miyazaki highlights in all his movies: the inability of adults to accept magic. In my story, Chihiro is fearful of this transition.
Anyway, here's the second chapter:
Part II - Seeking the Road
As soon as she had learned to drive, Chihiro had borrowed the car and sought the road that had, seven years ago, lead her to the world of the Spirits. Their names she could recall as easily as her own parents': Zaniba, Boh, Yubaba, Lin, Kamaji, No-Face, the Radish spirit, the River God, the staff of the great bathhouse that she had left behind. Then there was one who was gifted two names, as was she. He was the one whose face was slipping from her memory, and now, maturing, she knew soon it would be gone forever.
He was the force that gently drove her to the brink and made her seek the road again.
She drove for twenty minutes. The place had not been very far. She had thought of walking there many times since, but something in her heart had warned her, "No. No, Chihiro." Then, with more conviction, a low voice ordered: "Don't look back."
But she had to remind him, somehow, of his promise that had completed the cruel orders: "We'll meet again. I'm sure of it."
Now, as the trees sped by the windows of the little blue car like the brushstrokes of a giant's hand, she said silently aloud, "Haku," as though his name would summon him there, beside her. Wouldn't it be funny to turn her head a bit to the right to see a boy with serious gray eyes staring at her? A boy who possessed a voice deeper and more soulful than the years on his face?
The air smelled wet and green. A little sunlight snuck through the covering branches and dappled the ground. The rushing of air through the windows was like the roar of a mighty river.
She drove to the place she thought her father had taken the ill-fated turn but she found nothing. There was not a sign of a road, even one that might have been made long ago and was now overgrown with life. There was, as there always was, nothing.
She got out and walked around. Her sandaled feet left little impression on the springing moss. The yellow notebook felt heavy as a stone in her hand. And then, as much as she tried to suppress it, Chihiro began to cry. She fell to her knees like a child and wept her heart out, hitting the ground with the flats of her hands, shaking her head from side to side, glaring at the green world through blurry eyes.
Then, as abruptly as she had begun to cry, Chihiro stood and locked the car door. She put the book in her small bag and dashed the tears from her eyes. Her reflection could be seen in the streaked windshield: she was rather tall compared to her schoolmates; her legs were as awkwardly skinny as they had been in childhood. Her hair was still a shaggy brown mess that she had to pull together with that beautiful violet ribbon a monster and a witch had woven for her.
Chihiro closed her eyes and listened. No cars came by, so for a long moment she heard only the sounds of the wood. They were old and deep. She heard things she didn't recognize. She smelled plants more fragrant than any she had smelt before. There was the distant sound of running water.
When she opened her eyes, the blind vision was gone.
"Not today." And that was her choice. That was her power. She turned and began to unlock the car.
Then there was a whistling of wind that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Chihiro spun around and looked.
That hadn't been there before: that tiny, round, fat stone statue of some diminutive creature. And beyond.
A green, overgrown road wound away out of sight.
Without a second thought, she ran as fast as she could, plunging deep into the forest, the magic road opening wider and wider before her.