Princess Mononoke Fan Fiction / Spirited Away Fan Fiction ❯ A Thousand Fathoms ❯ Strength ( Chapter 10 )

Author’s Notes: Chapter 10!! This is a major milestone for me. I’m so excited I can hardly contain my happiness for working on this story again. Chapter ten will be about as short as nine was because I’m still extremely rusty. I will greatly accept constructive criticism. I’m always open for ways to improve my skills.   Don’t worry; the angst won’t last for too much longer. Enjoy (the 362 word drabble).

Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away.

Rating: PG-13 (Ratings may change)

Summary: Seven years, one month, two weeks, four days, and two hours, but hey who’s counting? Never a dream. I would never let myself believe it was a dream. "Oh God, I’m actually going through with this!" I took a step.

 

A Thousand Fathoms

Chapter 10: Strength Rebi woke me at sunrise on my third day of leave. I had stopped crying the night before and barely spoke to anyone let alone Rebi. She had told me, as I drifted off to sleep, that Spawn and I were to report to the pigsties an hour after the sun touched the earth. I clamored out of bed disobeying my body’s pleas to stay in bed. My joints rubbed together like sand paper; I could hear the dust and ache expel itself from my body. Silently Rebi helped me change into a new uniform; the one I wore for the past five days was stained with blood and sweat.   She offered to walk me to the sties, but I shook my head and slowly but surely made my way through the bathhouse maze. Dread sprang from the floor and curled around my legs, slowing me down. By the time I reached the exit I had stopped walking completely.     I was going to certain death. Not that I wasn’t dead already. The Chihiro I once knew so well fell the back of my consciousness, and in its place thrived a new and numb being. Nothing could hurt as long as I couldn’t feel, and for the past three days I felt nothing. Total and complete emptiness. As long as I kept that barrier around me, I’d be able to survive. Let everything roll off me like a drop of water on my shoulder.     Wind drifted through the curtains, dancing towards me, circling around me, lifting me. The hold that dread once had slowly dissipated as the wind carried me forward. The sun was a welcome touch against my skin. I soaked in every ray I could, every damaging UV ray that existed in that light. I felt more alive in that moment than I had for days. I felt that in one long distant future everything might be okay in the end.     However, I knew it was only going to get worse before it got better, as the custom is with life.   With this new partial hope and a bit of strength in my step I made my way to the sties.