Summer Days

By Enchantor

Chapter 1: Alone

As the first rays of dawn filters through the window and into the room, hitting the little girl sleeping in her bed. It lighted up all her features, making her glow. She seemed more angelic than what she seems to be. But this peaceful scene was soon to be broken as a man in his mid forties approaches the front of the house in his four by four Toyota.

SCREECH

PLANK

SLAM

The little girl sat up in her bed, hugged her blanket, and got out. She stood by her bed, stretching her little fingers to the roof that she could never reach. Her shirt lifted up a little showing her belly button just as her father rushed into her room. Suddenly she had an interest to the floor, and quickly bent down, this time reaching for her toes.

"Chihiro, what did you do with my audio tape?" Akio practically shouted in his daughter's face. It echoed throughout the house and reached the ears of the little girl's mother, who got out of her bed and headed towards her daughter's room.

If she is lucky this time, Akio will not blow up like the last time when Chihiro damaged his headphones by accidentally stepping on it when it was lying on the floor. She knew it had been her husband's fault that he had left it on the ground, and was not noticed by Chihiro. She wanted to yell that to his face last time, but she never had the guts to do it, her husband is older than her by ten years, he supports the whole family with his double back to back jobs, and basically overpowers her. In other words, she could so nothing, she felt so useless, in both providing for the family and protecting her only daughter. It had been like this since they had moved to the new house in this little town far out in the countryside, ever since they had realized that they had been disappeared for three months. It had been three months since the incident and they still had no idea what happened in those months that they were said to have disappeared. Neighbours started to talk behind their backs and her husband received most of impact at his workplace, and then he would take out his frustration on his daughter, and it doesn't matter if she had done anything wrong or not, he would start yelling and beat her up as soon as he enters the house. Whenever she wants to help her daughter, her husband would lock her up in their room and continue what he was doing to her baby. Yuuko thought as she walk down the hallway leading to her daughter's room.

"But dad, I didn't do anything with it, I had never touched your stuff without your permission," answered a despaired Chihiro.

"You brat, you are even worse than trash," with that he picked up a duster and start wiping his daughter with it.

Chihiro hold back a tear and choked back a sob as the handle of the duster came in contact with her skin. At the doorway, Yuuko looked at the scene with disgust, she was about to turn away when a glint caught her eyes. She turned and saw her husband pointing a knife at her baby's direction. That was her last straw…

Chihiro was staring at her father, a knife in his hand ready to strike. She squeezed her eyes shut enabling her relieve the situation that she was in, she was ready for the blow, but it never came. When her senses came back to her and she opened her eyes, all she saw was white, white lights, white ceilings, white walls, everything…white.

I must be dead. Chihiro thought as sat up while looking around curiously. She saw that she was clung to some machinery beside her and realized that she was at a hospital.

"Huh…how did I come to be at the hospital? A moment ago I was in my room…"

A door suddenly open and in come a nurse, and when she saw that the little girl that she was in charge with was up, she quickly went to her in less than a second, took up the clipboard that was hanging at the end of the bed.

"Ah Miss Ogino, you are finally awake! How are you feeling? Any pain?" the nurse took up a pen and started writing on her clipboard while at the same time checking her out.

"Not really, my head hurts."

"No wonder, you hit your head pretty hard," the nurse chuckled at the expression that the little girl gave her, and was suddenly sadden by the fact that not only was she to come in to check on her and also to bring her some bad news.

"Am I in a hospital?"

"Well yes little missy…"

"How did I get here? I was in my room the last time!" A very agitated Chihiro grabbed the arm of the nurses and started to shake her up. The nurse felt pity towards the little girl in her arms, who was ready to break down, and the only thing she could do was comfort her.

"Um my name is Darla, and yours would be…"

"Chihiro. My name is Chihiro Ogino," squeaked the little girl.

"And how old are you?"

"I am ten, Miss Dollar, I will be turning eleven in…" Chihiro started to count her fingers and did not answer until five of her fingers were extended, "…in five months. Mommy said that she will take me to Disneyland for my birthday." Now an excited little girl got off the bed, untangled herself from the nurse and jumped all over the bed.

Darla observed the care free little girl and she knew that she will have to break the news of her mother's condition to her sooner or later, but right now she just cannot break the heart of such a young soul.

Chihiro was dancing in glee until she saw the look in her nurse's eyes. They gave her a chill down her spine, and stopped in what she was doing and just stared at her nurse in the middle of the room. She tried to voice her question out loud, but her throat just did not seem to work, and only ended up succeeding coughing.

Small innocent brown eyes locked with soft kind mist grey ones.

Darla was caught in her reverie when coughings caught her attention; she looked up and saw Chihiro studying her.

"Little missy, what's wrong?" Darla went up to Chihiro and gave her a hug, kneeled to her level and asked her question once again.

"Little missy, what's wrong?" concerned clouded her eyes as she kept looking into the innocent ones across from her.

"Miss Dollar, you don't look happy. Why aren't you happy?" inquired Chihiro slightly annoyed that her nurse wasn't as content as her.

"Little missy…" Darla began unable to start, "Little missy, I am sorry that I have to tell you this…but you cannot go home for a long time."

Chihiro looked at her nurse, shaking her head, not understanding what her nurse had meant, she knew that it wasn't good news, but she kept on prodding.

"Why?" in a little whine.

"You see Little Missy, your mother passed away a few days ago and your father had been arrested." Darla knowing full well that the little girl cannot take that much pressure at once, but also felt that she needed to know. The only thing she can do for her is to comfort her while she cry, but it never happened. The little girl didn't cry a single drop. Darla was shocked.

Chihiro heard what her nurse had said, but it never registered in her mind. After hearing that her mother was dead, she literally "shut down" mentally, and her physical body was on autopilot. Nothing registered in her mind, the days came and went, and she knew nothing of it. She had shut herself off from the rest of the world. People tried to get her out of her trance, but nothing seemed to work. She had been transported to a foster home in her hometown, and she knew nothing of it. Everything went like a blur on her, she nodded when need, and shake her head for no, and she never said a single word after that fateful summer day. Her foster parents took care of her needs, gave her an education, their care, and tried many times to place back the spark of life into her eyes, but to no avail, and finally they accept defeat and left her alone. Unobvious to things around her, she sunk deeper and deeper into depression knowing that everything she had once loved had been taken away from her.