.,-+"/ Chapter Two - The River God \":-,.
Reizo stretched languidly in the lawn chair as he watched the night fall. It wasn't exactly "falling" tonight, though. The darkness seemed to deepen at the edges of his vision as the last traces of ruby light were absorbed by the thickening clouds overhead. Though breath-taking, its coldness made him uneasy… even more uneasy than he already was. What was going on with Chihiro, and what had happened back in the forest? She had collapsed in tears and Reizo had carried her back to the car. He had climbed into the back seat with her and held her, rubbing her back as she buried her face in the hollow of his neck and sobbed. Finally, exhausted, she had fallen asleep in his arms, leaving him to gaze upon her with confusion and growing worry. What was she not telling him?
An hour later Chihiro had woken, to all appearances perfectly recovered. She kissed Reizo and told him nothing had happened, she had been a little stressed out but she was fine now. With tender disbelief Reizo had let the subject drop and turned the car around, taking a different route to Chihiro's old home. They had been greeted warmly and enthusiastically by Chihiro's parents, who seemed to approve of Reizo the moment he stepped in the door. Over the course of supper he had been assailed good-naturedly with anecdotes from Chihiro's childhood. Chihiro herself had glowed with delight, poking fun at her father as he embarrassed her or pinching Reizo's thigh when he laughed at her. As the family was clearing the table, Reizo had gone outside to finish his drink and let Chihiro catch up with her parents. Troubled thoughts were sweeping through his head, but he could not quite catch hold of them.
He heard the door open and slam shut, and turning around saw Chihiro approaching with her arms full of old newspapers. She stuck her tongue out at him playfully. "Mom's got us sleeping in separate rooms," she informed him. "God, you'd think we were teenagers or something."
Reizo pretended to pout. "We'll just have to be sneaky, now won't we?" He took half of the papers from her and helped carry them out to the sidewalk. "Where'd you find all these?" he asked, tossing his half of the load into the recycling bin.
"They're cleaning out the basement for the first time since we moved here. I don't know why they kept these old ones." Chihiro waved one paper in front of his face. "Look at these dates!"
Reizo grabbed it from her to examine its headline more closely. "The 'Miracle of the Kasuga River,' huh? That is old news, it must have been more than ten years ago. It happened not too far from here." He shrugged and dropped the paper back on the pile. "My aunt and uncle lived by that river. I don't think they really believed it was anything supernatural, but they were some of the first people to petition for stricter pollution fines and all that."
Chihiro slid her hand into his as they walked back over to the lawn chair. "I don't remember ever hearing about that. What was it?" she asked as she curled up beside him.
"Nothing's very clear about it, and mostly its just been forgotten," Reizo said as he rested his chin on her hair. "The Kasuga River had been incredibly polluted for as long as anyone could remember. You couldn't drink it or swim in it–it was disgusting. Then, thirteen or fourteen years ago, everyone woke the next morning and the river was clean. There wasn't a trace of all that junk or filth; the water was as cold and clean as if it had always been that way." He sighed and kissed the top of Chihiro's head. "That's pretty much all I know about it. Everyone was really excited and all 'anti-pollution' for a while, and a bunch of different religious groups tried to take the credit for the so called miracle. But after a while, they all realized the river didn't heal lepers or bring visions, so the attention died down."
Chihiro yawned as she digested this information. For some reason a wrinkled old face was floating in her mind's eye, cackling at her. She sleepily pushed it away but it kept returning to her again and again. Suddenly she remembered, jerking upright as her mind forged connection after connection. Flashes of memory: the spew of garbage from the river spirit's side, the tendrils of water wrapping themselves around her, the bitter taste of the river spirit's medicine. This Kasuga River must be that same river spirit she had helped those many years ago! It was illogical and yet the only explanation that made sense.
Reizo tightened his hold on Chihiro as she stiffened. He recognized the wild look in her eyes from earlier that afternoon. God, what if she ran off again? "Talk to me, chiclit, please," he pleaded, shaking her gently. "You're scaring the shit out of me. I think I deserve to know what's going on."
Sorry, but this chapter isn't done yet. It will be finished shortly!