Hello everyone.

I've decided to write a fanfiction about Spirited away, and I was wondering if anyone on Rescreatu might like to read it and give advice and/or constructive criticism.  I'd greatly appreciate it if anyone would be willing to, seeing as I want to improve my writing.  If you do agree to helping me out, though, I ask that you not be too harsh when giving critique.  I'm not asking you to sugarcoat everything that you say, just try not to bash my writing too much, as I do spend time writing this stuff.

I suppose that's all that there's to say.  If you anyone's interested, I'll post my writing on this thread.

Thank you!

<3

-Lola 

Note: All characters, settings, ect. from the movie are not my won.  Full credit goes to Studio Ghibli and the creators of Spirited Away.

Thank you, Myth and Pet.  :D

This is just a prologue; it was made pretty fast, so please excuse any errors.  xD;  It's in need of fleshing out, too, but I couldn't think of much to write.  Oh well.  :D  .3.  <3 

Prologue

            I stared back through the tunnel, trying desperately to see past the darkness that shielded the view of the place that had changed my life.  The wind tugged gently at my clothing, beckoning me back, though I knew I couldn’t go back.

            “Come on, Chihiro!  Let’s get to our new home.”  Called my mother after a while, her tone concerned.

            “You’re not scared, are you?” my father added, his tone teasing.

            As I began to turn to face them, my mom added, “Don’t be afraid, honey.  Everything is going to be okay.”  Her tone sounded as if she thought that I might have thought that my father was being mean.

            “A new home and a new school—it is a bit scary.”  My father comforted as I climbed into the car.

            That thought gave me pause.  I thought of the many things I have just gone through.  A monster with no face…  A dragon-boy…  A powerful, semi-crazed witch…

            I smiled to myself.

            “I think I can handle it,” I replied as we began to speed down the rough road that would bring us to our new home.  The trees overhead became a green blur as I became lost in memories anew and old, comforting and terrifying.  I blinked back sudden tears of happiness, relief…and was that grief?  And then the thought hit me—I was going home.

Lol, thank you Pet.  <3  And I don't really mind how long it takes you to reply.

 :D  And I'll go fix that mistake--Now that you mention it, it does sound better that way.  <3 

Thank you for the advice.  <3 

Haha, thank you, Zoey.  <3

...

First chapter coming when I finish it, or when I'm not lazy.  D8  Sorry for the delay.  <3 

Chapter One

“Chihiro…  Chihiro, we’re almost there!”

            B-beep!

            B-beep!

            B-beep!

            I groaned and rolled over, slapping the “Snooze” button on my alarm clock as I groggily sat up.  Morning already?  I moaned again and stumbled out of bed, leaning against the wall for some much-needed support.  I reached over and turned off my alarm clock, and then went to survey my closet.

            That white blouse?  No.  Maybe those black yoga pants…  Definitely not.  I sighed and settled on a dark blue pair of jeans and a green quarter-sleeve sweater, pulling on a blue-gray sweatshirt as well to ward off the early morning chill.

            As I walked into the kitchen, I grabbed an apple to munch on.  I wistfully gave up my cereal as I realized that I was going to be late if I waited any longer to begin my walk to the toy store.

* * *

            The doors chimed merrily as I walked into Zakyou, the toy store where I worked.

            “Hi Chihiro!” called Yuri, another employee, from behind the checkout counter.

            I smiled and waved.  “Hi Yuri.”

            She smiled back as I walked by on my way to the back of the store to check inventory.  I shivered at the cold as I entered the room, glancing around for a moment before I found the light switch.  A flash of blue blurred in front of my eyes for a moment, and I stumbled back, disoriented.  I let out a small laugh as I realized it must have just been my eyes adjusting to the light, and then I began to check inventory.

            It was a dull job, and it was definitely long.  The perk, though, was getting a sneak peek at the new toys that were to be released next month.  I was grateful when that job was finished, and as I took my post at the checkout counter, I blew out a long sigh of relief.  Yuri had gone to her lunch break a while before, and so I was left alone in the store.

            As I walked back to the checkout counter, I tripped on a jump rope that hadn’t been put away properly.  I stumbled to catch myself, but I couldn’t in time. Landing flat on my face, I felt the blush begin to creep up.  Did anyone see?  Please, please, please not.  But, sure enough, I hear a faint chuckle.  It was more a whisper than a laugh, but I hear it, nonetheless.  Dang it.  But as I looked up, I saw no one.  Not a single soul.

            Weird, I thought as I stood up and brushed myself off.  Very weird indeed.

* * *

            Yuri came back from her lunch break at around 1:30, an hour after my little tripping incident.  She was merry and cheery as always, but not as talkative as she had been in the morning.  I always enjoyed her company; it cheered me up, and kept my thoughts from drifting to where they usually went—my childhood, not-entirely-sane-at-all adventures.

            I was sad when she had to go at around three, but I was also relieved to have some solitude again.  It was then, that I began to feel it.  I was cleaning out some old receipts, when it happened.  That peculiar feeling that you get when you are being watched began to bubble up in the back of my brain.  That little tick that tells you that you’re not alone.  I was less than happy by this paranoid revelation, so I pushed it away and got back to work.

            It came again when I was dusting off the counters, getting ready to close up the shop for the night.  It rushed up, into my mind again.  Eager to stop this false notion, I whirled around to stare out the windows—and a small little gasp escaped out of my throat.  Someone was staring in through one of the main windows—and right at me.  They person was undistinguishable, wearing a long tan trench coat and a hat.  The hair was tucked up inside of the hat, and its visor kept the face in shadow.

            I bit back a scream, but just as I was reaching for the phone to dial the authorities, the man—I don’t know what made me so certain, but I was sure the person was a male—turned on his heel and walked away, disappearing.  I shuddered and drew my hand away from the phone, instead placing it on the cool counter to calm my frazzled nerves.

            What had just happened?

            The hairs on the back of my head prickled at the possibilities.  A stalker?  A thief?  Or, I thought, maybe it was just a shy customer, stupid.  I let out a pitiful-sounding, shaky laugh.  Obviously, it was time for me to go home.

            I pulled my sweatshirt, which I had never discarded, closer to me and hugged my torso tightly to keep in the warmth.  I walked to the front door, switching the lock as I stepped out in to the still-warm late afternoon air.  As I tugged the door closed behind me, the lock swung into place with a deep, THUNK!

            I looked around, paranoid, for a moment before making my way home.  The walked was pretty quick, as Zakyou was only a few blocks from my house, but the duration of the walk was agony.  I kept feeling like I was being watched, and looked over my shoulder often.  More than once, I nearly ran into something.

            By the time I was home, my cheeks were once again cherry red from embarr*censored*ment.  I went immediately into the kitchen and made myself some canned soup, as I was too tired to cook.  I brought my steaming bowl of tomato soup upstairs and ate in bed.  I watched one of those pointless comedy romances, and then pulled on my pajamas—which consisted of sweatpants and a warm sweater.

            I drifted off to sleep soon after climbing back into bed, dreaming of boys, dragons, and mysterious strangers.

  Rolling over and groaning, I slapped the “Snooze” button on my alarm clock as I groggily sat up.  Morning already?  I moaned again and stumbled out of bed, leaning against the wall for some much-needed support.  Reaching over, I turned off my alarm clock, and then went to survey my closet.

o3o  Is this any better?  xD  I sort of just skipped through and put in different penings.  :P  I'm not sure if they're any good, though.