Spirited away

Chapter 5

I drag my feet on the tarmac as we walk down the street in the late afternoon gloom. I shoot in the dead leaves, torn from the plants of the buildings by massive gusts. The wind is strong these days, it doesn't weaken, nor does it force. It's like a typhoon that refuses to come.
I look at my feet, there are always more leaves, that get browner. Soon the street will be covered with them, and maybe the buildings will be naked.

I look at my feet, which I keep dragging. My soles are tired. Sora-sensei would scold me if she saw me doing this. Weaving shoes takes time. Not a lot, but time spent replacing things that are damaged because of lack of care is time that is wasted, where other things could have been done. Sora-sensei would be disappointed, annoyed... But I don't care, I don't have the energy.

I sigh, trying to get rid of my frustration. Hinami at my side sighs in echo, expelling the air from her lungs with an aggressive accent. She almost grunts. I, sigh wearily. I remain silent, my lips pressed together in an acidic line. I ponder, determined.

We turn the corner, stepping over the roots of the giant cherry tree that invades the intersection. You can hear the voices coming from the community hall. We bring in the rice cakes we made this morning. A lot more red bean paste has been added than usual. This is one of the fares that the travelers have brought with them in quantity.

We approach the entrance, the bamboo doors have been unhooked, leaving the door gaping. The warmth of the crowded room envelops us, its sounds filling our ears. Travelers and city residents are mixed together. They chat, they smile, they exchange joyfully, they make faces, they call out to each other at every opportunity. They already know each other. The reserved and ceremonial greetings of the first evening have faded, affinities are developing. Around one of the tables they argue about the road project to Zenshou, some inhabitants helped by newcomers have already started to clear a path and to label the passage to the next valley. They talk about rocks and wood cutting.

The carts arrived four days ago. Since then, time is slow. Since then, the wind blows. I am tired and worried. I wish they would go away.

I tuck my head into my shoulders, sneak over to a table to put my tray down.

- Don't you want to stay a while, Chihiro? Sora-san allows you to, but you and Hinami haven't had much to say to our visitors since their arrival. Aren't you curious?

I step back from the assembly with a smile and a negative head movement. One of Sora-sensei's friends asks her interlocutor to leave me alone. I'm shy, she says, and it's not nice of him to bother me when I'm bringing them food. They laugh.

The witch's huge grey kimono stands out in the crowd. I swallow. I refuse to turn in her direction, but I'm sure that her eyes are following me.

So, I go out as quickly as I came in. Hinami slaloms between the tables and exits with the same haste.

Outside, calm welcomes us, along with the coolness of the evening. I scan the buildings and streets around, and I catch my friend doing the same. We are looking for the same thing: a small, agile, hopping figure.

Shiro has disappeared. He's gone. Not far away, at times I feel him fumbling for my presence. Sometimes I think I see him, like a blurred movement at the edge of my vision.

I miss him.

He misses me too, but he is running away. He is running from the witch.

My feeling of helplessness and incomprehension rises in my throat. I kick a pile of leaves, when Hinami grabs me by the collar.

- Chihiro!

She must have called me several times, and I wasn't listening. She's as taut as a bow, her neck stretched towards the top of the big glass building, which she points out to me. It was a former office tower. An administrative empire, now a lush kingdom. The windows now serve as a huge greenhouse for the trees that have integrated the structure. Some of them are broken, the branches swinging through the openings. You can often hear monkeys, and you can see little spirits on occasion. Shiro likes to play with both.