Spirited away 2

Chapter Four:

Just as the food stalls were in reach Chihiro stopped suddenly and looked terrified. A thought had hit her and it almost knocked her breath away. And that thought was on a single name; and that name was Yubaba. She knew she needed food or else she would disappear, but she also knew that the old witch would most likely turn her into a pig for taking anything from the offerings to the spirits. Gritting her teeth Chihiro growled to herself and thought of the old woman's appearance; sure she dreamed of seeing the witch for years but right now she hated everything the woman did.

"Damn that old bat." she growled to herself as she pinched the bridge of her nose trying to focus and think over all of her options. Her left hand raked through her long brown hair trying to comfort herself a little bit. Chihiro knew she was in quite the dilemma; she could either eat the food of the spirits and risk being turned into a pig, or she could fade away and all her years of suffering would've been for nothing. Neither option really sounded appealing to Chihiro, especially since she definitely didn't want to be sentenced to the pigpen. However on the other hand she really wanted to return to the bathhouse and continue on her life the way she felt it should've been if she hadn't of left. She desperately thought over her options, however in this instance all she could hope for was Haku to magically appear and sweep her off her feet. Thinking about the man in question, she quickly remembered a key detail she almost forgot. The first time she had arrived it had been Haku who had given her a berry, which in turn saved her from disappearing. But thinking back she felt confused about that act of kindness for the first time; she had eaten a piece of an offering to the spirits and yet she didn't get turned into a pig.

Looking down at her transparent fingers she gasped in realization; she didn't take the food like her parents did, she was given food by a fellow spirit. Her parents behaved like pigs and ate all the food without permission; Haku, in a sense, had given her permission to eat his offerings. Maybe that was where her and her parents differed; she didn't commit a crime by stealing food like they did. Squeezing her fist together in front of her face, she grimaced when she could see right through it; she was out of options.

With that thought she raced for the food stalls once again, this time without a doubt in her mind. Fear raced through her body as she looked at all the spirits that were already pooling around in lines toward the stalls but she pushed it away the best she could. Chihiro knew she needed to get some food, and if that meant cutting in front of some looming spirits then that was exactly what she was going to do. Looking at them closely she noticed that most were only shadow spirits, which really only made sense since there were so many shadows lurking around the world. Most of them ignored her as she raced past them to get closer to the stalls, on the other hand though there were the few that hated humans and they complained of her stench and of her being there; they complained of losing their appetite mostly.

If Chihiro wasn't so pressed for time, she would've stopped and set all the talk straight. She was used to others talking about her and making fun of her; she lived through that all through middle and high school. Children singled her out in everything just because she was a little different. A small smirk graced her lips as she continued to rush past them, she wanted to find out exactly why spirits thought so badly of humans; and she could only smile when she thought of what their reactions would be. A lowly human confronting a spirit in their own world; it would be priceless. Chihiro held in a laugh as the first food stall finally came into view; she could just barely see it over the heads of the gathering spirits. Weaving through the crowd Chihiro finally came up to the front of the line where she was met with an ugly stare from the spirit in charge of the stall.

"Go away human, your money's no good here!" It almost spit in her face as it looked on at her in disgust. A small flame was ignited in Chihiro and the growing heat pushed to her face; she really wanted to tell the spirit to shove it but she was in a terrible pinch and really needed it to help her. So putting on her best pleading face she began to beg with tears threatening to stream from her eyes.