Young Writers Society

Disclaimer: I still don't own Sprited Away.

Lin was not happy. Then again, the only thing that made her happy was payday, but that only came around every century or so. So, as a result, Lin was in a perpetually bad mood.

“Stupid onion spirit,” she complained bitterly to herself as she crossed the bridge. Night had fallen nearly three hours ago, the colored lanterns that adorned the bath house glowing brightly in the darkness. “Can’t have his clothes washed the same way as everyone else… No! They have to be washed in the river! So know I have to walk all the way…”

She sighed and stopped for a moment, moving the weight of the large laundry basket she was carrying over to her hip. A large group of spirits passed her, all wearing masks, heading for the bath house. Food stalls lined the streets, the counters tended to by black, wraith-like spirits. The smell of the food was nearly intoxicating, but Lin knew better than to touch. The food was for paying customers only.

Lin continued to grumble to herself all the way down the hill, ignoring the stares that she was getting. Hopefully, news of her bad disposition wouldn’t reach the bath house. Her pay would be docked—yet again.

Eventually, she reached the stairs that led down to the water. The river’s surface was black and smooth, mirroring the starless sky. Lin set her laundry basket down and rolled up the pant legs of her pink worker’s uniform. She stepped into the water, sending ripples across its undisturbed surface.

Lin put her hands on her hips, looking out towards the orange-red blur that was the city across the river. The only thing discernible about the town aside from the bright lights was a large tower, looming above the other buildings like a superior giant. Lin sighed, letting her hands fall to her sides once again.

“Lucky idiots,” she said, but the resentfulness was gone from her voice. Now, it was simply filled with regret. “They don’t know how good they’ve got it.”

Lin had only just begun washing the clothes in the river when a supremely annoying voice interrupted her.

“LIIIIIIN!!”

She groaned loudly, hiding her face in her hands, but that didn’t stop the frog foreman’s approach.

“H-Hey!” he said, stopping a few steps behind Lin, obviously trying to catch his breath. “I-I didn’t think that… I’d find you down here.”

“If you’re going to chase me, frog-breath,” Lin said, turning around to give him an icy glare. “You might want to try to not be so obvious about it.”

“But I…err…umm…” the foreman stuttered, waving his hands in the air. Lin wordlessly returned to washing the onion spirit’s clothes.

The foreman stood there sheepishly for a moment, but then seemed to regain some courage. “Hey… Lin. You’re free tonight, right?”

“And?” The tone in Lin’s voice should have been an indicator to what her answer would be, but the foreman went ahead anyway.

“So… would you go out with me?”

He was answered with a stinging slap across the face.

“The answer is the same as it was last night, wart face!” Lin shouted at him.

“Any chance that it might change?” the foreman asked. He was now sprawled across the stairs after being knocked over from the blow.

“It’ll be the same tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that!” It was nice to have someone that she could take her frustration out on.

“What about the day after the day after that?”

Lin decided not to answer such a stupid question, and once again returned to her washing.

After a few moments in silence, the foreman gasped.

Lin threw her bar of soap into the water with a loud splash. “For the last time, idiot, I’m not going out with you! You tried that ‘fake death’ trick last week, and—“

“No, Lin, look!” the foreman said in astonishment.

Lin turned around to look at him, and saw him pointing towards the sky in amazement. She turned again, now looking towards the moonless and starless sky, wondering what in the spirit world she was supposed to be looking for…

Suddenly, she saw a streak of sliver cut across the night sky, but the next second it was gone.

“What in the—“ Lin started to say, but then her bewildered brain provided the answer.

A dragon.

“Frog-face! Was that what I think it was?” Lin shouted excitedly to the foreman. She didn’t wait for an answer. “Its scales must have reflected the light of the lanterns; that’s why we could only see it for a few moments!”

“Wait a minute, Lin!” the foreman said, scrambling to his feet. “Do you think that what we just saw was… a dragon?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Lin said, looking up at the sky again, hoping to catch another glimpse of the dragon.

“But… dragons hardly ever come here!”

“That’s why I’m excited, nitwit! Think about how much gold we could earn!”

“But—“

The foreman’s protest was cut off by an ear-splitting roar and a booming splash as something huge hit the river. A wave of dark water thundered down onto the steps, throwing Lin and the foreman against the stone and thoroughly soaking them both.

As soon as the water receded, Lin sat up quickly, ignoring the coughing foreman and the bruises that she now had on her arms and legs from the force of the water. The onion’s spirit’s clothes were now floating in the river, but Lin could care less.

At the end of the stairs, its body still halfway in the water, laid the dragon.

Lin sucked in her breath; dragons were more gorgeous than she had ever been led to believe. Its silver scales reflected the light coming from the bath house, giving the dragon’s body a golden glow. A green mane surrounded its regal head, and its serpentine body wound into the water.

However, Lin only got a few seconds’ glance; the next moment, the form of the dragon shimmered and disappeared, leaving behind what appeared to be a young boy.

Lin immediately rushed over to him, propping up his head with one hand. The boy coughed weakly but didn’t open his eyes.

“You think he’s okay?” the foreman asked behind Lin.

“Just unconscious,” Lin said tersely. She pulled some wet strands of hair away from the boy’s face. His skin was paler than an ice spirit’s.

“He seems sort of young for a dragon,” the foreman continued. “…He’s probably only a couple thousand years old.”

“Then we’ll just have to take him back to the bath house,” Lin declared.

The foreman stared at her, completely flabbergasted. “Take him back to the…? But Lin! What if he can’t pay?”

Lin shot him another icy glare. “Have you ever heard of a poor dragon, toad eyes?”

“Well… no, but… all the same…”

“Would you rather leave him here and have the next batch of tourists find him? Oh, that would simply do wonders for business,” Lin continued sarcastically. “Yubaba might even want to give you a raise.”

“Don’t say her name!” the foreman hissed between clenched teeth. He looked around warily, as though the witch were watching them right now. “Okay, fine. But don’t let anyone know that it’s a dragon that we’re bringing in, all right?”

“Sure,” Lin said, rolling her eyes as she leaned the unconscious boy onto her shoulder. “As if it isn’t obvious enough that we’re bringing a total stranger into the workplace…”