Spirited Away
The Flowing of Passion
Chapter 5
The beginning of nothing
Chihiro sat on the edge of her bed, afraid to move. Hot tears poured from her eyes as she tried to put together everything that had happened. But her mind could not focus about anything but the fact that Haku was gone, and she never got the chance to say goodbye.
She let out an sob, full of anger and denial. She had hated everything that had to happen. She hated the stupid mall that had to open, she hated Haku for being a spirit, and most of all, she hated herself for not understanding…not letting him know her real feelings.
She could still sense his presence around her. His scent lingered around where he had last been seen. It was faint..but it was all she had left.
"Haku?" she asked quietly, "Are..are you there?"
But the only answer was the cheerful sounds of the morning. She sighed, knowing that it was over. She remembered Haku mentioning the morning, and how he had to leave before then. She remembered how he said that he was going to another place. But where?
Chihiro grasped the purple elastic, slipping it onto her wrist. "Oh Haku," she cried softly, "I'm so sorry. I love you so much Haku…I really do.." Chihiro squeezed her eyes shut, wishing that she hadn't turned away. Now it was too late, and there was nothing in the world that would change that.
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A Few Weeks Later…
Chihiro's mother handed her daughter a glass of water along with a small plastic cup. She sympathetically stared at her daughter, watching her place a small pill on the tip of her tongue.
"That's my girl," she said as Chihiro swallowed the last pill. "Now have a great day at school," She hugged her daughter tightly and watched her leave. She heaved a sigh as she glanced upon the little plastic cup laying on the table. She still was not sure what had happened that day. The day where she saw her daughter crumble into nothing.
It was morning, and she had woken up to the sobs of Chihiro. She hadn't gotten anywhere asking what had happened. And nothing seemed to get a word out of her. She stayed silent…for days. After a week, her husband couldn't take much of his daughter's attitude anymore. They saw a psychiatrist, where he had labeled her as depressed. He prescribed medication…and when nothing happened, he increased her dosage.
Chihiro's mom sighed again, wondering what went so wrong. What made it so that her daughter had to take 500 milligrams of Zoloft a day? Once again, her questions were left unanswered.
**************
Chihiro dragged her feet towards the road towards the school. She was tempted to skip again, but she couldn't let her parents down again. They actually cared about her, so she had to try. As she walked, painful memories came flooding back when she saw the way towards the river. The building of Heartland Mall was extremely slow. But it was definitely coming along. She wondered if the entire river was gone. Her feet quickly turned to her left as she made her way towards the construction site. As she passed the sign indicating the construction site, she looked around.
Behind all the machines and tools, she could see the once clear water that was a river. But it was muddy, and partially gone. She dropped her backpack on the ground as she swiftly went to the side of the remaining river.
Chihiro felt her heart break at the image of what she saw. The muddy pool of water was motionless, lifeless, dead. She placed her hand into the water, feeling it's cool essence. But it was missing the most important thing of all. It's spirit.
"Miss, what the hell are you doing here?" A man dressed in a yellow uniform with a hardhat walked over. He took a hard stare at her before recognizing her. "You are the same girl I had to tell to back off a few weeks ago," he snickered, "What's wrong with you?"
"Don't worry, I'm leaving," she replied, walking away.
"Why do you keep coming here anyway?" he curiously asked.
"Leave me alone." she stated, slugging her backpack around her shoulders. "I just wanted to see what was left before you destroy the whole thing for your damn mall."
"I'm sorry if you're one of those annoying protestors against this." He said looking out at the construction site. "But..take one last look, it seems that if we're on schedule, the river will be gone by tomorrow afternoon." He replied, proud of the progress.
Chihiro nodded gently and walked away. It was finally going to happen. As much as she denied it, she knew deep down someday it would happen. It didn't matter, she thought bitterly. Haku was gone…he was dead. She never had figured out what happened to him completely. But all she had to know..was he was gone forever.
***********
The night was fresh, as the trees swayed back and forth, and air stayed crisp as always. Chihiro stared outside her window, motionless. How she longed to go to the Kohaku river and sink her feet into its peaceful waters. Even though she knew that it was half dead, she still wanted to feel it's remains before it left. But her heart held her back, afraid of the pain it could cause.
The clock had struck 12am, and Chihiro woke up suddenly. She rose up from her covers, flinging them to her side. She heard her own fear around her…and she stayed quiet. This is ridiculous, Chihiro thought angrily, arising from her bed and heading into her bathroom. She turned on the faucet, letting the cold water run. With her hands, she cupped the water and flung it over her face several times. As she reached for her towel, she glanced up at the mirror. In horror, she saw another figure behind her. She let out a scream as she turned around.
XD XD I realize how I haven't written in FOREVER. But anyways, tell me if something doesn't make sense, because I didn't really look back to any of the previous chapters. This chapter took a pretty short amount of time to write amazingly, and I don't know if everything fits or not. Oh well, I think it's final to say that there will be one more chapter after this one for the end. Review!! Thanx, Jess.
