Spirited Away Fan Fiction ❯ A Different Beginning ❯ The Middle of Nowhere ( Chapter 1 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Okita1209 
Anime/Manga: Spirited Away Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Drama / Comedy / Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 05.06.2009 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.0K | Visits: 733 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Spirited Away Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Drama / Comedy / Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 05.06.2009 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.0K | Visits: 733 | Status: Work In Progress
Author's Note: I am well aware that it's been years since I've worked on this piece, but I've made a resolution to finish it. I, dear cancer patient, do solemnly swear to complete this story sometime within the next few months, if, by chance, I do not, I give you all permission to find and beat the living day lights out of me. On a happier note, I've gone through previous chapters and have altered them only slightly.
The Middle of Nowhere
Chapter 1
It was official now, oh yeah, definitely official, she hated car rides. Especially the sort where it was a one-way trip from one home to another; a.k.a. moving. “Be happy,” they said, “it's fun,” they said.
Yeah, and hell is a koi pond, she thought with a snort.
Chihiro lay across the back seat of her parents’ car with her music playing through her headphones, an empty box of pocky sitting rather snugly between her body and the back of the rear bench of the car. A small bouquet of pink flowers lay across her lap and she turned the card that had come with them side over side through her fingers, stopping every few turns to read what was written:
“Good luck, Chihiro, we'll meet again.
Your Best Friend: Rumi!”
She sighed, don't wanna move.
As her father drove down the small roads, she watched the trees pass with only a mild interest. The landscape was kind of similar to where they had last lived, but a hillside in Tokyo is just about as different from this place as rags are from a Geisha's party kimono. They had lived just near the Kohaku-gawa, the very river she'd grow up by her whole life; at least until they had drained it and built three new apartment complexes in it. The years after that Chihiro had grown more and more unruly, and at times, depressed as.
“This really is the middle of nowhere,” she heard her mother say to her father. “I'll have to shop in the next town."
“It'll be great once we get used to it,” her father countered matter-of-factly.
It's going to suck, Chihiro thought in a rather sardonic tone, only vaguely noticing when the trees gave way to the scattered buildings of the small town.
“Look, there's the school!” her father exclaimed, “There's your new school, Chihiro.”
I'm not a child; you don't have to point out everything. As she lazily sat up and glanced out the window her mind just barely registered the soft tones of her mother's voice:
“It doesn't look so bad.”
Chihiro narrowed her eyes at the bleached stone and cement building, and then stuck her tongue out at it stubbornly. “I liked my old school better,” she said in a voice that sounded like she was worn out, exhausted. That's why I took the entrance exam for that school and not this one.
“It'll be alright, dear,” her mother told her encouragingly.
Doubt it, and she turned around to lay down again, shifting so that she faced the back of the seat. Only when the plastic wrapping crunched and crackled did she realize that she was, quite effectively, crushing her flowers as she moved.
Damn the luck, she thought and groaned, sitting back up.
“What is it, Chihiro?” her mother asked, turning in her seat to see what the matter was.
“My flowers are getting crushed,” Chihiro said with a mournful sigh. “I can't believe this!”
Her mother took the card from her fidgeting fingers and examined it for a moment, “No wonder, the way you cling to them so. We'll put them into some water when we get there and they'll perk right up.”
“My first real bouquet is farewell flowers, how crappy is that,” she slumped down in her seat, trying to look as small as possible, lest any of their new neighbors see her.
She took her card from her mother and went back to turning it over through her fingers again. She looked down at her poor flowers, the only bouquet she'd ever been given by someone other than her parents. It was special, especially since it was from the girl who had been her best friend since they were small children.
“What about that rose you got for your birthday or the flowers you got for sports? Don't those count?”
Chihiro sighed, “No, I said a real bouquet. Getting flowers for sports doesn't count and a single rose isn't a bouquet.”
Her mother sighed again, turning to her husband who did nothing but shrug with a you-can't-really-blame-her expression on his face. “I'm opening the window. C'mon, be happy. It's a big day for all of us.”
It doesn't care, Chihiro thought, slightly amused at the fact that she was referring to herself as an "it", and watched the electric poles as they sped down the little two-lane highway. Then she bolted up out of her seat, leaning between her parents and speaking rather excitedly, “Quick, turn around and let's go home, there's still time! I would bet you money that they haven't even sold our house yet!”
Her father laughed his deep belly laugh, so deep that it affected even his voice when he spoke. “No, no, it's not that easy, sweetheart. Besides, the movers are already on their way to our new house.”
She flopped back onto the rear bench and crossed her arms over her chest, pouting slightly, “Can't blame me for trying,.”
Lying back down, her feet propped up on the armrest of the car door; she turned up her music to drown out the sound of the wind rushing through the car. I hate this, she decided just as they turned onto the exit for Tochinoki. As they went up the hill, Chihiro could tell that everything was going to change, no matter how much her parents said it would be exactly the same.
Almost half an hour later, she could feel a change in the texture of the road, as if it had gone from paved to unpaved. That can't be right, she thought, sitting up to see what was going on.
They were stopped right beside a huge tree, one that had to be at least a hundred years old judging from the fact that it was wider than the shrine-like arch in front of it. The arch itself was poorly taken care of; only small flecks of paint remained on what she could only assume had been a bright red surface. The wood was bowed and the structure of it was very unstable, as if it might fall at any moment if it weren't so deep in the ground.
“Hey ... Did I take a wrong turn?” her father asked as he stuck his head out the window, glancing at the poorly kept dirt road leading into a large group of trees.
Great, he got us lost, not surprising, she thought following her father's gaze towards the dirt road.
“That must be it, look,” she heard her mother say through the music playing in her ears.
“Unh?” her father leaned over to look out of the passenger-side window, trying to catch what his wife was seeing.
Miyavi, save me, Chihiro begged, looking up the hill behind the tree they were beside. Okay, which one?
Almost as if on que, her mother answered her silent inquiry, “It must be that blue one over there.”
“That's it! I must have missed the turn off,” her father realized.
She wasn't impressed, not impressed at all. “I still say we turn around and just go home,” Chihiro said, mostly to herself since they weren't going to listen to her anyway. Then she peered down at the trunk of the tree, something gray catching her eye. What the…?
“I bet this road'll get us there,” she heard, so she rolled her eyes and shook her head, turning off her music just in case the road they got on was too bumpy.
“This is always how you get us lost,” her mother complained as he pulled the car forward.
But her father wasn't going to listen, again. “Just a little farther, okay?”
Typical male, she thought, shaking her head once more. Then she pulled herself up against her mother's seat, “What do you think all those shrines are for?”
“The people pray to them, some might even believe that little spirits live in them.”
“Instead of just going to a temple? Great, we're moving in amongst psychos. What next, they dress up like frogs and dance around in circles waving fans around?” Her eyes followed the tree and the arch before it as they entered the path through the group of trees. Chihiro was slowly developing a bit of a sinking feeling as they went further and further into the trees, or maybe that was just her imagination.
“Dad, are we lost?” she asked after a few minutes, once again kneeling between her parents's seats, looking from one to the other.
“We're fine, we've got 4-wheel drive,” he assured her with that classic smile that said what he had neglected to:
“I'm a man and I'm having probably way too much fun plowing a path through the trees with my itty bitty Audi.”
We are all going to die, she thought, remembering the last time he'd gone driving down a back road.
The tradition held true once more as her father sped up, jolting down the dirt road. The car lurched forward over the old cobblestones and Chihiro fell back onto the back seat, clutching her flowers to her chest.
“Sit down, Chihiro,” her mother said, not bothering to look back at her.
Just shut up, she thought, pulling herself up to sit more steadily on the seat and glowering at the back of her mother’s head.
She noticed something grayish nestled in the trees through the corner of her eye. When she looked over she saw that it was something like a statue or gargoyle that was shaped or sculpted rather to look like a monkey of some sort. But she couldn't really tell because in no time at all they had zoomed past it and she had to turn in her seat to look at it through the rear window. It looked like a guardian really, the way it sat in the forest overlooking the road like it did.
“You're going to kill us!” her mother cried out, gripping the armrests so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
Chihiro wisely said nothing, neither agreeing with her mother nor disagreeing with her, but she definitely knew that if the idiot driver didn't get off his high then they'd end up running smack into a tree. Then they'd all die and Chihiro would never get to see her best friend ever again ... she'd never get her first kiss or go on a real date or meet a boy that didn't completely infuriate her.
“A tunnel?” came his voice, and then he suddenly hit the brakes. Chihiro squeezed her eyes shut and braced her arms against her mother's seat to keep from flying through the windshield. Then, when the car finally stopped, she opened her eyes and saw before the hood of the small car a stone statue almost exactly like the one she'd seen in the forest scant seconds before. This one was covered in moss though, and stood like a guardian in front of the tunnel that lead through the red building a few meters in front of them.
“What's that strange building?” her mother asked, the question mirroring the thoughts Chihiro felt running through her head.
Chihiro's father opened his door and stepped out of the car, “Must be an entrance.” He walked to the tunnel and looked over it, obviously trying to figure out what its purpose /really/ was.
This didn't sit well with her mother, though; in fact it didn't make her happy at all, because she stuck her head out of the open window and yelled, “Honey! Let's go back, honey!”
Strange, Chihiro thought. I wonder why a building this big would be out in the middle of nowhere like this. Wonder what it is.
So, her curiosity took over her and she too got out of the car, only noticing that she still had her flowers clutched tightly in her hand once she stood on the other side of the door. She carefully placed them on her seat, making sure not to do any more damage to them than she already had. Somehow, though, she managed to unconsciously slip the card into the pocket of her jean shorts and then hurried to her father's side.
“Chihiro!” she heard her mother call out from the car, “No ...” If she had looked back she would have seen the glower covering the middle-aged woman's face.
When she reached her father, he was running his fingers over the side of the building, flakes of red paint falling off here and there. “It's just plaster,” he said finally, smiling at her, “This building's pretty new.”
Who'd have guessed? Chihiro wondered absently, looks pretty old to me. A chill ran down her spine and she felt a feeling of foreboding grow in her gut.
The two of them looked down the tunnel; a moaning sound seemed to come from further inside the darkness. Chihiro gasped softly, feeling the wind rush around her mostly uncovered legs, her shorts only covering down to her upper thighs. Leaves and dead flower petals stumbled end over end inside the mouth of the tunnel and her grayish blue eyes widened slightly.
“The wind's going in,” she said mostly to herself, disliking the building more and more.
The passenger-side car door opened and closed and Chihiro could hear her mother’s foot falls as she walked up to them, “What is it?”
Her father looked back at his wife, a strangely boyish grin covering his face, “Let's have a look. There's a way through.”
Chihiro looked over at him, “It's creepy, Dad. Let's just go back.”
“No need to be scared. Just a little farther, okay?”
Who said scared? she thought, narrowing her eyes at him and tightening her mouth into a thin line, I just said creepy, like a really big, slimy, many-legged bug.
“The moving van'll get there before us,” her mother told him and Chihiro did a mental happy dance.
Score for Mom!
“So, let 'em, they've got the keys. Let the movers move us,” he countered as if it were as simple as that.
Her mother crossed her arms loosely over her stomach, gripping the elbows of her bright pink sweater with the tips of her fingers. “I know, but ...”
“No, no, no! I'm not going in there!” Chihiro told them pointedly, running back to stand in front of their small blue car, which was, consequently, right next to the moss-covered gargoyle. “Dad, I really think we should go back.”
“Nothing to be scared of,” he told her in a soft voice.
“I'm not scared, but I won't go,” she said with a menacing scowl. Then she looked over at the gargoyle that stood beside her and she grimaced, clutching at the sleeves of her green and white shirt.
When she looked up, she saw that her father already heading inside and her face fell like a hammer. Damn you, fat man ... she cursed him silently, holding up a proverbial fist of damnation with which to smite him.
“Chihiro, wait in the car,” her mother called back to her as she followed her husband.
“Uh, bu- ...” she looked back over at the gargoyle that seemed to laugh at her rather pitiful attempts to make them listen. I know you're up to something, so just shut up, she thought at it, narrowing her eyes. “Wait up!”
Chihiro ran after them despite the tingle that ran down her spine again, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand straight up. Her father looked back, an adventurous expression etched into his features.
“Watch your step,” he told her before turning back and continuing on towards the rather dim light ahead of them.
At the end of the tunnel was a rather large room which seemed to resemble a train station. Several wooden benches, colored glass windows, a structure that looked like a bird-bath here and there. The bright late afternoon sun shone through the circular windows, but the building looked like it had been abandoned for years and years.
“Where are we?” Chihiro asked, looking around the large open space in wonder.
Her mother put a hand to her ear and smiled slightly, “Say, do you hear that?”
She listened for a moment hearing nothing at first, then a low whistle sounded and the whirring of metal wheels could be heard. “It's a train.”
“Maybe we're near the station,” her mother offered with a bright smile.
Then her father got that wild adventurous look on his face again, “Let's go and find out.”
Chihiro got a really bad feeling about going any further than where they were, but since her parents were already on their way out, she might as well follow them. When they were out through the other side of the station, they were met with an open field of lush green grass. Here and there were scattered statues like the ones on the other end of the tunnel and small shacks were here and there. But when she looked around, she noticed a bunch of them off in the distance.
“What are those houses doing here?” she wondered and the wind picked up a little, ruffling her clothes and sweeping the longish hair around her face in her eyes. I knew I shouldn't have gotten bangs, she thought, remembering when she had wanted them about three years ago. Not even long enough to pull back out of my face.
“I knew it. This must be an abandoned theme park. They built so many in the early 90's, but they all went down with the economy. This must be one of 'em.”
He's a history book now, Chihiro thought, turning around to get a better look at the building they'd just come out of.
It looked like a square palace with a clock tower pasted on top. The roof tiles were black and the outer walls were red, the characters on the clock were done in black but the way it was made was just so ... She didn't know how to describe it, but more than anything, it was looking more and more like a beacon for far off travelers.
Her parents started to walk off again and she turned around to find them several feet away already. “What?! No! We've seen the other side now let's go back, Dad!”
But they didn't stop walking; in fact it seemed as if they hadn't even heard her at all. They just made their way on to the large group of houses in the distance, climbing up the hill without a care in the world.
“C'mon!”
The wind picked up a bit more, like it was pushing her forward and she heard the building let out a sound. It was moaning! The building was actually moaning at her. She ran forward to catch up with her parents again, though her better judgement told her not to.
“Freaky building,” she said, looking back at the building from a safe distance, “It moaned.”
“Sweetie, it's just the wind, you know that,” her mother said, not even looking over at her. “What a lovely spot. We should have brought our lunch with us.”
Chihiro stopped and her mouth fell open, From the person who wanted to get to the house before the movers. Then she shook her head and followed close behind her to keep from hearing other such strange things. Since when does she like the outdoors?
Before long, the three of them were crossing a line of boulders. The rocks were covered in moss and mud and a small stream ran through the cracks as if trying to get someplace better. Chihiro stumbled over the first two, losing her balance on the slick surface. Then she huffed at them and planted her hands firmly on the largest ones she could find, trying to use them as a sort of handrail.
“They were making a river,” her father noted. Then he sniffed the air, holding out an arm for his wife. “Hey, you smell that?” he asked her as she stumbled into him and sniffed at the air again. “See, smells great.”
His wife followed his lead and took a sniff then smiled brightly, “You're right.”
“Maybe they're still open,” he said, obviously thinking out loud because that statement didn't make any sense.
An abandoned theme park still open? Chihiro thought rather sarcastically, that makes a lot of sense.
“Hurry up, Chihiro,” her mother called out as they went up the stone stairs.
She was having a bit of a problem crossing, though, so it took her a while. I'm a soccer player, not a mountain climber, damnit. “Wait for me!” she yelled as she finally made it safely across. Then she bounded up the steps only barely noticing the moss-covered frog statue and the water stains that lead from his mouth and down the steps to the boulders.
Her father was leading the three of them, following his nose like a bloodhound through the strange town. When they got to what appeared to be a main street they stopped and he turned around and around, trying to find the source of the smell. “This way,” he told them, picking a direction and heading off again.
“Can you believe it, they're all restaurants,” her mother said with a voice full of awe.
Nope, can't believe it, she thought, sarcasm coloring her mind again, here they have a perfectly fine abandoned theme park and it's nothing but restaurants. Kami, what were they thinking?
But still, was it abandoned? Chihiro had to wonder, because if it had been abandoned, why were the paper lanterns still intact, why weren't they just as worn as the rest of the place? The brightly colored buildings had their paint flaking off but the curtains around the entrances looked as if it had been cleaned only yesterday. The wooden stools inside weren't rotten or old; they were just ... there, looking like they were constantly kept up. Nothing in this place made sense if it was what her father had said it was.
“Where is everybody?” she wondered.
“Over there!” her father shouted a few seconds later. Then he ran on further down the street and looked around a corner. “Hey, hey!” he called to them before turning the corner and going who knows where.
Chihiro and her mother followed soon after, the aroma of whatever her father had smelt was strongest here. When she looked past him, she noticed huge platters of food, all of the dishes foreign to her. Something inside her screamed that this was a really bad idea, the same thing that had made her spine tingle and the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Whatever was going on her, she had to stop it before something happened, and whatever it was that was going to happen, she knew it couldn't be good.
“In here, here,” her father said, motioning to his wife and Chihiro.
Her mother followed his lead into the sit-down restaurant. “How amazing,” she commented in awe, looking at all the different kinds of food.
“Excuse us, anyone here?!” her father called out, looking into the kitchen behind the counter.
“Come in, Chihiro,” her mother urged taking a seat on one of the stools, “it looks delicious.”
But Chihiro shook her head, shoving her hands deep into her pockets to keep from doing anything that would make the sensation in her gut any stronger.
“Excuse us!” her father called out again.
“Oh, don't worry,” her mother insisted, picking up a piece of food that vaguely resembled an extremely small chicken. “We can pay them when they get back.”
“You're right,” he said looking on down the counter. “That one looks great ...”
“I wonder what this is called,” her mother thought aloud before taking a rather large bite. “Delicious! Chihiro, taste it.”
Chihiro frowned and shook her head, “I don't think so.”
There was something wrong here, she knew there was. Food didn't pop up out of nowhere in an abandoned amusement park. And even if it wasn't abandoned, where were all the people? She gathered up the bottom of her shirt in her hands, twisting the fabric nervously and chewing on her bottom lip.
“Let's go,” she urged, “They are going to be mad at us.”
Her father moved down the counter, piling food on three separate plates as he went. “Don't worry, you've got me here. I've got credit cards and cash.” Then he placed one of the plates in his hands in front of his wife, taking a seat on one of the stools as well before he started eating.
“Take some, Chihiro, it's so tender,” her mother said, looking at her over her shoulder.
But Chihiro shook her head again, looking rather forlorn as her parents went on eating. Her father dished something out onto his plate and passed it on over to her mother, saying “horseradish” before he went right on eating.
“Thank you,” she managed between bites.
Chihiro looked from left to right down the small alleyway, trying to find someone in this empty-looking place, but there was no one to be found. “Mom! Dad!!” she yelled, hands balled into fists and stomping her feet in frustration.
But they continued to eat, seeming to not have heard her at all. She let out a sigh and her whole frame just slumped. Then, looking back down to the end of the alley, she headed back to the main street.
May as well find something to do, she thought angrily, if I know them, they'll be there until Dad is full. Stupid Old People.
The Middle of Nowhere
Chapter 1
It was official now, oh yeah, definitely official, she hated car rides. Especially the sort where it was a one-way trip from one home to another; a.k.a. moving. “Be happy,” they said, “it's fun,” they said.
Yeah, and hell is a koi pond, she thought with a snort.
Chihiro lay across the back seat of her parents’ car with her music playing through her headphones, an empty box of pocky sitting rather snugly between her body and the back of the rear bench of the car. A small bouquet of pink flowers lay across her lap and she turned the card that had come with them side over side through her fingers, stopping every few turns to read what was written:
“Good luck, Chihiro, we'll meet again.
Your Best Friend: Rumi!”
She sighed, don't wanna move.
As her father drove down the small roads, she watched the trees pass with only a mild interest. The landscape was kind of similar to where they had last lived, but a hillside in Tokyo is just about as different from this place as rags are from a Geisha's party kimono. They had lived just near the Kohaku-gawa, the very river she'd grow up by her whole life; at least until they had drained it and built three new apartment complexes in it. The years after that Chihiro had grown more and more unruly, and at times, depressed as.
“This really is the middle of nowhere,” she heard her mother say to her father. “I'll have to shop in the next town."
“It'll be great once we get used to it,” her father countered matter-of-factly.
It's going to suck, Chihiro thought in a rather sardonic tone, only vaguely noticing when the trees gave way to the scattered buildings of the small town.
“Look, there's the school!” her father exclaimed, “There's your new school, Chihiro.”
I'm not a child; you don't have to point out everything. As she lazily sat up and glanced out the window her mind just barely registered the soft tones of her mother's voice:
“It doesn't look so bad.”
Chihiro narrowed her eyes at the bleached stone and cement building, and then stuck her tongue out at it stubbornly. “I liked my old school better,” she said in a voice that sounded like she was worn out, exhausted. That's why I took the entrance exam for that school and not this one.
“It'll be alright, dear,” her mother told her encouragingly.
Doubt it, and she turned around to lay down again, shifting so that she faced the back of the seat. Only when the plastic wrapping crunched and crackled did she realize that she was, quite effectively, crushing her flowers as she moved.
Damn the luck, she thought and groaned, sitting back up.
“What is it, Chihiro?” her mother asked, turning in her seat to see what the matter was.
“My flowers are getting crushed,” Chihiro said with a mournful sigh. “I can't believe this!”
Her mother took the card from her fidgeting fingers and examined it for a moment, “No wonder, the way you cling to them so. We'll put them into some water when we get there and they'll perk right up.”
“My first real bouquet is farewell flowers, how crappy is that,” she slumped down in her seat, trying to look as small as possible, lest any of their new neighbors see her.
She took her card from her mother and went back to turning it over through her fingers again. She looked down at her poor flowers, the only bouquet she'd ever been given by someone other than her parents. It was special, especially since it was from the girl who had been her best friend since they were small children.
“What about that rose you got for your birthday or the flowers you got for sports? Don't those count?”
Chihiro sighed, “No, I said a real bouquet. Getting flowers for sports doesn't count and a single rose isn't a bouquet.”
Her mother sighed again, turning to her husband who did nothing but shrug with a you-can't-really-blame-her expression on his face. “I'm opening the window. C'mon, be happy. It's a big day for all of us.”
It doesn't care, Chihiro thought, slightly amused at the fact that she was referring to herself as an "it", and watched the electric poles as they sped down the little two-lane highway. Then she bolted up out of her seat, leaning between her parents and speaking rather excitedly, “Quick, turn around and let's go home, there's still time! I would bet you money that they haven't even sold our house yet!”
Her father laughed his deep belly laugh, so deep that it affected even his voice when he spoke. “No, no, it's not that easy, sweetheart. Besides, the movers are already on their way to our new house.”
She flopped back onto the rear bench and crossed her arms over her chest, pouting slightly, “Can't blame me for trying,.”
Lying back down, her feet propped up on the armrest of the car door; she turned up her music to drown out the sound of the wind rushing through the car. I hate this, she decided just as they turned onto the exit for Tochinoki. As they went up the hill, Chihiro could tell that everything was going to change, no matter how much her parents said it would be exactly the same.
Almost half an hour later, she could feel a change in the texture of the road, as if it had gone from paved to unpaved. That can't be right, she thought, sitting up to see what was going on.
They were stopped right beside a huge tree, one that had to be at least a hundred years old judging from the fact that it was wider than the shrine-like arch in front of it. The arch itself was poorly taken care of; only small flecks of paint remained on what she could only assume had been a bright red surface. The wood was bowed and the structure of it was very unstable, as if it might fall at any moment if it weren't so deep in the ground.
“Hey ... Did I take a wrong turn?” her father asked as he stuck his head out the window, glancing at the poorly kept dirt road leading into a large group of trees.
Great, he got us lost, not surprising, she thought following her father's gaze towards the dirt road.
“That must be it, look,” she heard her mother say through the music playing in her ears.
“Unh?” her father leaned over to look out of the passenger-side window, trying to catch what his wife was seeing.
Miyavi, save me, Chihiro begged, looking up the hill behind the tree they were beside. Okay, which one?
Almost as if on que, her mother answered her silent inquiry, “It must be that blue one over there.”
“That's it! I must have missed the turn off,” her father realized.
She wasn't impressed, not impressed at all. “I still say we turn around and just go home,” Chihiro said, mostly to herself since they weren't going to listen to her anyway. Then she peered down at the trunk of the tree, something gray catching her eye. What the…?
“I bet this road'll get us there,” she heard, so she rolled her eyes and shook her head, turning off her music just in case the road they got on was too bumpy.
“This is always how you get us lost,” her mother complained as he pulled the car forward.
But her father wasn't going to listen, again. “Just a little farther, okay?”
Typical male, she thought, shaking her head once more. Then she pulled herself up against her mother's seat, “What do you think all those shrines are for?”
“The people pray to them, some might even believe that little spirits live in them.”
“Instead of just going to a temple? Great, we're moving in amongst psychos. What next, they dress up like frogs and dance around in circles waving fans around?” Her eyes followed the tree and the arch before it as they entered the path through the group of trees. Chihiro was slowly developing a bit of a sinking feeling as they went further and further into the trees, or maybe that was just her imagination.
“Dad, are we lost?” she asked after a few minutes, once again kneeling between her parents's seats, looking from one to the other.
“We're fine, we've got 4-wheel drive,” he assured her with that classic smile that said what he had neglected to:
“I'm a man and I'm having probably way too much fun plowing a path through the trees with my itty bitty Audi.”
We are all going to die, she thought, remembering the last time he'd gone driving down a back road.
The tradition held true once more as her father sped up, jolting down the dirt road. The car lurched forward over the old cobblestones and Chihiro fell back onto the back seat, clutching her flowers to her chest.
“Sit down, Chihiro,” her mother said, not bothering to look back at her.
Just shut up, she thought, pulling herself up to sit more steadily on the seat and glowering at the back of her mother’s head.
She noticed something grayish nestled in the trees through the corner of her eye. When she looked over she saw that it was something like a statue or gargoyle that was shaped or sculpted rather to look like a monkey of some sort. But she couldn't really tell because in no time at all they had zoomed past it and she had to turn in her seat to look at it through the rear window. It looked like a guardian really, the way it sat in the forest overlooking the road like it did.
“You're going to kill us!” her mother cried out, gripping the armrests so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
Chihiro wisely said nothing, neither agreeing with her mother nor disagreeing with her, but she definitely knew that if the idiot driver didn't get off his high then they'd end up running smack into a tree. Then they'd all die and Chihiro would never get to see her best friend ever again ... she'd never get her first kiss or go on a real date or meet a boy that didn't completely infuriate her.
“A tunnel?” came his voice, and then he suddenly hit the brakes. Chihiro squeezed her eyes shut and braced her arms against her mother's seat to keep from flying through the windshield. Then, when the car finally stopped, she opened her eyes and saw before the hood of the small car a stone statue almost exactly like the one she'd seen in the forest scant seconds before. This one was covered in moss though, and stood like a guardian in front of the tunnel that lead through the red building a few meters in front of them.
“What's that strange building?” her mother asked, the question mirroring the thoughts Chihiro felt running through her head.
Chihiro's father opened his door and stepped out of the car, “Must be an entrance.” He walked to the tunnel and looked over it, obviously trying to figure out what its purpose /really/ was.
This didn't sit well with her mother, though; in fact it didn't make her happy at all, because she stuck her head out of the open window and yelled, “Honey! Let's go back, honey!”
Strange, Chihiro thought. I wonder why a building this big would be out in the middle of nowhere like this. Wonder what it is.
So, her curiosity took over her and she too got out of the car, only noticing that she still had her flowers clutched tightly in her hand once she stood on the other side of the door. She carefully placed them on her seat, making sure not to do any more damage to them than she already had. Somehow, though, she managed to unconsciously slip the card into the pocket of her jean shorts and then hurried to her father's side.
“Chihiro!” she heard her mother call out from the car, “No ...” If she had looked back she would have seen the glower covering the middle-aged woman's face.
When she reached her father, he was running his fingers over the side of the building, flakes of red paint falling off here and there. “It's just plaster,” he said finally, smiling at her, “This building's pretty new.”
Who'd have guessed? Chihiro wondered absently, looks pretty old to me. A chill ran down her spine and she felt a feeling of foreboding grow in her gut.
The two of them looked down the tunnel; a moaning sound seemed to come from further inside the darkness. Chihiro gasped softly, feeling the wind rush around her mostly uncovered legs, her shorts only covering down to her upper thighs. Leaves and dead flower petals stumbled end over end inside the mouth of the tunnel and her grayish blue eyes widened slightly.
“The wind's going in,” she said mostly to herself, disliking the building more and more.
The passenger-side car door opened and closed and Chihiro could hear her mother’s foot falls as she walked up to them, “What is it?”
Her father looked back at his wife, a strangely boyish grin covering his face, “Let's have a look. There's a way through.”
Chihiro looked over at him, “It's creepy, Dad. Let's just go back.”
“No need to be scared. Just a little farther, okay?”
Who said scared? she thought, narrowing her eyes at him and tightening her mouth into a thin line, I just said creepy, like a really big, slimy, many-legged bug.
“The moving van'll get there before us,” her mother told him and Chihiro did a mental happy dance.
Score for Mom!
“So, let 'em, they've got the keys. Let the movers move us,” he countered as if it were as simple as that.
Her mother crossed her arms loosely over her stomach, gripping the elbows of her bright pink sweater with the tips of her fingers. “I know, but ...”
“No, no, no! I'm not going in there!” Chihiro told them pointedly, running back to stand in front of their small blue car, which was, consequently, right next to the moss-covered gargoyle. “Dad, I really think we should go back.”
“Nothing to be scared of,” he told her in a soft voice.
“I'm not scared, but I won't go,” she said with a menacing scowl. Then she looked over at the gargoyle that stood beside her and she grimaced, clutching at the sleeves of her green and white shirt.
When she looked up, she saw that her father already heading inside and her face fell like a hammer. Damn you, fat man ... she cursed him silently, holding up a proverbial fist of damnation with which to smite him.
“Chihiro, wait in the car,” her mother called back to her as she followed her husband.
“Uh, bu- ...” she looked back over at the gargoyle that seemed to laugh at her rather pitiful attempts to make them listen. I know you're up to something, so just shut up, she thought at it, narrowing her eyes. “Wait up!”
Chihiro ran after them despite the tingle that ran down her spine again, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand straight up. Her father looked back, an adventurous expression etched into his features.
“Watch your step,” he told her before turning back and continuing on towards the rather dim light ahead of them.
At the end of the tunnel was a rather large room which seemed to resemble a train station. Several wooden benches, colored glass windows, a structure that looked like a bird-bath here and there. The bright late afternoon sun shone through the circular windows, but the building looked like it had been abandoned for years and years.
“Where are we?” Chihiro asked, looking around the large open space in wonder.
Her mother put a hand to her ear and smiled slightly, “Say, do you hear that?”
She listened for a moment hearing nothing at first, then a low whistle sounded and the whirring of metal wheels could be heard. “It's a train.”
“Maybe we're near the station,” her mother offered with a bright smile.
Then her father got that wild adventurous look on his face again, “Let's go and find out.”
Chihiro got a really bad feeling about going any further than where they were, but since her parents were already on their way out, she might as well follow them. When they were out through the other side of the station, they were met with an open field of lush green grass. Here and there were scattered statues like the ones on the other end of the tunnel and small shacks were here and there. But when she looked around, she noticed a bunch of them off in the distance.
“What are those houses doing here?” she wondered and the wind picked up a little, ruffling her clothes and sweeping the longish hair around her face in her eyes. I knew I shouldn't have gotten bangs, she thought, remembering when she had wanted them about three years ago. Not even long enough to pull back out of my face.
“I knew it. This must be an abandoned theme park. They built so many in the early 90's, but they all went down with the economy. This must be one of 'em.”
He's a history book now, Chihiro thought, turning around to get a better look at the building they'd just come out of.
It looked like a square palace with a clock tower pasted on top. The roof tiles were black and the outer walls were red, the characters on the clock were done in black but the way it was made was just so ... She didn't know how to describe it, but more than anything, it was looking more and more like a beacon for far off travelers.
Her parents started to walk off again and she turned around to find them several feet away already. “What?! No! We've seen the other side now let's go back, Dad!”
But they didn't stop walking; in fact it seemed as if they hadn't even heard her at all. They just made their way on to the large group of houses in the distance, climbing up the hill without a care in the world.
“C'mon!”
The wind picked up a bit more, like it was pushing her forward and she heard the building let out a sound. It was moaning! The building was actually moaning at her. She ran forward to catch up with her parents again, though her better judgement told her not to.
“Freaky building,” she said, looking back at the building from a safe distance, “It moaned.”
“Sweetie, it's just the wind, you know that,” her mother said, not even looking over at her. “What a lovely spot. We should have brought our lunch with us.”
Chihiro stopped and her mouth fell open, From the person who wanted to get to the house before the movers. Then she shook her head and followed close behind her to keep from hearing other such strange things. Since when does she like the outdoors?
Before long, the three of them were crossing a line of boulders. The rocks were covered in moss and mud and a small stream ran through the cracks as if trying to get someplace better. Chihiro stumbled over the first two, losing her balance on the slick surface. Then she huffed at them and planted her hands firmly on the largest ones she could find, trying to use them as a sort of handrail.
“They were making a river,” her father noted. Then he sniffed the air, holding out an arm for his wife. “Hey, you smell that?” he asked her as she stumbled into him and sniffed at the air again. “See, smells great.”
His wife followed his lead and took a sniff then smiled brightly, “You're right.”
“Maybe they're still open,” he said, obviously thinking out loud because that statement didn't make any sense.
An abandoned theme park still open? Chihiro thought rather sarcastically, that makes a lot of sense.
“Hurry up, Chihiro,” her mother called out as they went up the stone stairs.
She was having a bit of a problem crossing, though, so it took her a while. I'm a soccer player, not a mountain climber, damnit. “Wait for me!” she yelled as she finally made it safely across. Then she bounded up the steps only barely noticing the moss-covered frog statue and the water stains that lead from his mouth and down the steps to the boulders.
Her father was leading the three of them, following his nose like a bloodhound through the strange town. When they got to what appeared to be a main street they stopped and he turned around and around, trying to find the source of the smell. “This way,” he told them, picking a direction and heading off again.
“Can you believe it, they're all restaurants,” her mother said with a voice full of awe.
Nope, can't believe it, she thought, sarcasm coloring her mind again, here they have a perfectly fine abandoned theme park and it's nothing but restaurants. Kami, what were they thinking?
But still, was it abandoned? Chihiro had to wonder, because if it had been abandoned, why were the paper lanterns still intact, why weren't they just as worn as the rest of the place? The brightly colored buildings had their paint flaking off but the curtains around the entrances looked as if it had been cleaned only yesterday. The wooden stools inside weren't rotten or old; they were just ... there, looking like they were constantly kept up. Nothing in this place made sense if it was what her father had said it was.
“Where is everybody?” she wondered.
“Over there!” her father shouted a few seconds later. Then he ran on further down the street and looked around a corner. “Hey, hey!” he called to them before turning the corner and going who knows where.
Chihiro and her mother followed soon after, the aroma of whatever her father had smelt was strongest here. When she looked past him, she noticed huge platters of food, all of the dishes foreign to her. Something inside her screamed that this was a really bad idea, the same thing that had made her spine tingle and the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Whatever was going on her, she had to stop it before something happened, and whatever it was that was going to happen, she knew it couldn't be good.
“In here, here,” her father said, motioning to his wife and Chihiro.
Her mother followed his lead into the sit-down restaurant. “How amazing,” she commented in awe, looking at all the different kinds of food.
“Excuse us, anyone here?!” her father called out, looking into the kitchen behind the counter.
“Come in, Chihiro,” her mother urged taking a seat on one of the stools, “it looks delicious.”
But Chihiro shook her head, shoving her hands deep into her pockets to keep from doing anything that would make the sensation in her gut any stronger.
“Excuse us!” her father called out again.
“Oh, don't worry,” her mother insisted, picking up a piece of food that vaguely resembled an extremely small chicken. “We can pay them when they get back.”
“You're right,” he said looking on down the counter. “That one looks great ...”
“I wonder what this is called,” her mother thought aloud before taking a rather large bite. “Delicious! Chihiro, taste it.”
Chihiro frowned and shook her head, “I don't think so.”
There was something wrong here, she knew there was. Food didn't pop up out of nowhere in an abandoned amusement park. And even if it wasn't abandoned, where were all the people? She gathered up the bottom of her shirt in her hands, twisting the fabric nervously and chewing on her bottom lip.
“Let's go,” she urged, “They are going to be mad at us.”
Her father moved down the counter, piling food on three separate plates as he went. “Don't worry, you've got me here. I've got credit cards and cash.” Then he placed one of the plates in his hands in front of his wife, taking a seat on one of the stools as well before he started eating.
“Take some, Chihiro, it's so tender,” her mother said, looking at her over her shoulder.
But Chihiro shook her head again, looking rather forlorn as her parents went on eating. Her father dished something out onto his plate and passed it on over to her mother, saying “horseradish” before he went right on eating.
“Thank you,” she managed between bites.
Chihiro looked from left to right down the small alleyway, trying to find someone in this empty-looking place, but there was no one to be found. “Mom! Dad!!” she yelled, hands balled into fists and stomping her feet in frustration.
But they continued to eat, seeming to not have heard her at all. She let out a sigh and her whole frame just slumped. Then, looking back down to the end of the alley, she headed back to the main street.
May as well find something to do, she thought angrily, if I know them, they'll be there until Dad is full. Stupid Old People.