1"Chihiro," the voice calls over and over again.
I'm afraid of what's going to happen, the voice sounds like it's warning me. I want to listen to it, but I'm scared.
Then I'm in a garden. Sweet scents fill the air and flowers of every color greet me. Something's wrong though. The place is so cold that I'm starting to shiver, yet the sun is shining.
"Chihiro," the voice chants over and over.
I walk to the edge of the garden wanting to leave the creepy place. The only path starts to crumble and becomes nothing but a dark abyss. Frantically I turn my head looking for an exit. This isn't right, this place is all wrong.
The whole place is falling apart, the light slanting in a way that gives it an eerie atmosphere. The once beautiful flowers that surrounded me start to morph into some hideous new thing not even worthy of being called a plant.
Then a path opens up beckoning me in. It's filled with thorns and withering plants, but at the end of it I can feel that there is something magnifecent. The path is my only way out it seems, because I have no intention of waiting for another.
As I go down it I can only faintly hear the whisper on the wind, "Chihiro."
I wake with a start. That dream was different, it was a lot more serious and dark. I dismissed it thinking that tomorrow I would be back to my usual dreams about a sweet voice on the wind that I just can't seem to reach. It's weird though, the two dreams had the same voice. The one in the dream I just had was more concerned, anxious, and maybe even a bit more scared than the usual voice though.
My thoughts about the dream were put aside as I got ready for the day. I wore simple clothes and wouldn't dream of putting on make up. I had learned to accept who I am without all the "help" that other girls needed. A couple years ago I would have jumped at the chance, but my parents wouldn't agree to it.
Today is the day that me and my parents go camping. It's something that we do every year over summer vacation. And while I do think I'm getting a bit old for it, it's tradition and I couldn't let my parents go alone.
I packed my bag with so much stuff. I barely had room to fit in my notebook and colored pencils.
Over the years I had began to love drawing.
"Chihiro, are you ready yet?" My dad called from down the stairs.
"Yeah, just a minute." I grabbed my bag and went to join them.
In the car I had the sudden urge to draw a river. A really big one that I'm certain I've seen before. It's so beautiful in my mind and I can't help but imagine that I'm there. The way I imagined it was warm and welcoming, but for some reason lonely.
When we finally arrive there is nothing but forest. Everywhere you look is trees, almost none of it is suitable for camping. My parents know of a secret spot, though. We've been here several times before and they always say that this place is their favorite. They think that it's more connected with nature than the other places. I'm not sure what they mean, though, because all of the places we've been to are just as deserted.
Camp took forever to set up. The ground was damp and for awhile it looked like it was going to be miserable. My parents still enjoyed every second of it though.
Once it was all done my parents just sat around for awhile. I was too restless to sit here any longer, though.
"I'm going on a hike, okay Mom?" I said.
"Okay, be back soon," she said.
"Bring some food with you. Just in case you get hungry," my dad added. I nodded. After getting some food and putting it in a small bag I headed off. This time I decided to go in a direction I had never gone before.
Every time I go here the nature of the forest surprises me. I'm not used to it since I live in a city. While there the stars are barely visible, here everyone of them shines with a brilliance that just can't be compared to anything else. Not only were the sights different, but so where the smells and sounds. I was certainly not used to waking up to the sound of birds every morning, and the scent of the forest just after it rained. Sometimes I liked it here more than in the city. During those rare times I feel that this is really where I belong.
As I was getting lost in the scenery I didn't realize that the forest was getting thicker as I went along. There was a lot more trees, many of them so thick that I couldn't even wrap my arms around them. All the birds I could hear before were slowly fading away into the background along with other signs of life. I found my way onto a worn down path that was probably used by some animal. It weaved through the trees in different directions, and if I wasn't so confident in my sense of direction I would be afraid of getting lost.
Then I came around one tree that was even bigger than the others. What I saw I was definitely not prepared for. Between the trunks of two trees was a wall about 10ft. high, and on that wall was a single door. The wall and the door looked old and tarnished. In fact there was vines growing all over them from several different plants. It was almost like they had grown out of the ground like the trees next to them. The strangest part yet though was that on the other side of the wall was nothing. Not even the other side of the door that I had seen from the front.
I circled around it thinking that it had to be some kind of trick. There was no way that this was just lying in the middle of the forest. I mean who would use this thing? I was half-tempted to open up the door. It didn't seem harmful or anything.
I reached my hand out to do so. The door knob looked old and rusted like the rest of the door. I had my hand on it, but for some reason I couldn't seem to open it. Not because I was physically unable to, there was just some force that made me think twice about opening the door.
Out of no where somebody screamed. It sounded like it was coming from the direction I had come from. From our camp.
Without a second thought I tore through the forest. Weaving through the many trees. I wasn't that far from camp, but it was far enough that something terrible could have happened and I wouldn't even know about it.
"Please let them be okay." I said to myself. Who knew what it was that could have caused the scream.
Author's Note: I'm so sorry that this took so long to update. I really don't have any excuses. Please tell me what you think. Is it good? Do certain things need improving? Your reviews make me want to write even more. Also I created a poll asking if you like the story. There's two other polls asking what am I doing well with my stories and what I need to improve on in my stories. So please answer those too. If there is another option that you think I should put on the poll please tell me, I created them off the top of my head. And thank you for reading all this. :)