Just a quick note - a huge thanks to everyone who reviewed my last story! I apologize for not getting back to you, and will try to do a better job this time.
Anyways, this is just a quick little piece. Enjoy!
"...Hey what's your forehead doin' way up there?"
Mabel teased affectionately as she pointed to where the Big Dipper hung high in the night sky. This immediately earned her a playful shove from her brother as she cracked up with a mischievous fit of the giggles.
"I didn't notice it was missing." Dipper fired back. "I was too busy thinking about how the moon's as full as your brain tonight."
"Huh?" She looked up at the barely visible crescent. Once she understood, she promptly began to prod him sharply in the side. "Booooo, nerd joke! Boooooo!"
"You started it!" He shot back, and the two rolled over briefly to make faces at one another before fixing their attention back to the brilliant heavens above. Each one lay tucked in a sleeping bag next to the totem pole, all settled in for a night sleeping out beneath the stars.
Mabel reached for the bag of marshmallows and popped several into her mouth as she gazed up wide-eyed at the hundred little white pricks of light. She had never seen so many before, at least not in their more heavily populated hometown. Transfixed by their simple beauty, she curiously asked, "So...can you tell me about any more of those star-shapes?"
"You mean the constellations? That depends. Are you going to quit it with the stupid jokes?" Dipper replied as he tucked his hands behind his head.
"Probably not." She then promptly stuffed her mouth with several more white puffy treats. Her twin however went ahead and did as requested, while she listened with genuinely rapt attention.
"Well, that one over there, that's supposed to be Leo, the lion. And near him is Hydra, the many-headed snake monster. You know Hercules?"
"Like, the Disney movie?" she mumbled innocently around a stuffed mouth.
"Kinda. Anyway, it was a mythical creature that was almost impossible to destroy. If you cut off one head, and two more grow back." Dipper explained, happy to play the role of expert. "Now way over to your right, see those? They make up Aquarius, the water-bearer-"
"And those ones! Those ones!" Mabel jabbed a finger and pointed excitedly. "Tell me again about those up over there. Please?"
Her brother chuckled as he answered. "Gemini. The twins."
She instantly starting tittering with unbridled delight, and happily waved at the ancient heavenly formations. "Hiya, star-twins! Hi there! Greetings from planet earth!"
"What makes you think they're gonna reply back?" Dipper seized his opportunity with a smirk. "No one wants to talk to someone with marshmallow breath."
Mabel snickered as she balled up the freshly emptied bag and threw it at his face. While the two carried on with their fun, the sound of heavy footsteps announced that a certain someone was finally leaving the shack after putting in a long day.
"Oh, heya, dudes!" Soos stopped and greeted the two warmly. "Whatcha up to out here?"
"Hey, Soos! It's a clear night, so we decided to try and spend it out here." Dipper answered, looking relaxed as could be as he lounged upon the ground.
"Yeah, it's amazing!" Mabel gushed happily. "They're all extra bright and extra-sparkly out here in the woods. And there's so many fun constallatthingys, and each one has a story for it, and...and..."
Excited as can be, she let out a gleeful squeal as she kicked about inside her bag. "I think I could lie out here every night if I could!"
Soos smiled from ear to ear as he leaned up against the totem pole and looked skyward with them. "Yeah, they're pretty cool. I sometimes still do that... sitting outside at night, watching them, thinking about like, the stars and planets, and other space stuff like that, y'know?"
"Yeah it's-" Before Mabel could get in another word, the portly man continued on in a curiously contemplative fashion.
"And I'll think to myself, 'Man, I wish I could see Jupiter. It's supposed to be mad-huge.' And others times I'll think, 'Wow, that's like, a lot of galaxies and things up there.' And that's when I get to thinking. I start to wonder, in the grand scheme of things, where do I stand in relation to all of it? Do I really matter?"
"...Wait...uh, Soos?" Dipper tried to interrupt. Their friend however continued rambling along as the Pine siblings exchanged unsettled looks.
"...do I, as Soos, truly have that big of an impact in this life? When I look to the heavens above, I have to wonder to myself, do I have that big of a role to play in this world? Is it really all that important in like, the grand scheme of everything and stuff?"
"Soos?" Mabel whined anxiously. The bear of a fellow didn't even pause. His large, bulging eyes continued to stare unblinking up at the night sky while he ruminated out loud. He seemed to have become oddly lost in the stars' almost hypnotic twinkling.
"...Or does it really not matter all that much in the end? When all is said and done, am I simply a tiny speck living on another speck in an unforgiving and immense universe that stretches on for near-infinite distances where there is no question as to my absolute, and almost laughably small insignificance?"
At this point, the twins had gone utterly dead silent. Wordlessly they lay there, staring wide-eyed up into the now nearly overwhelming night void. Finally, Soos seemed to snap out of it with a hearty belly-laugh that sent his entire gut jiggling.
"And also I wonder if I might see like, a UFO. Y'know, with aliens that have like, fifty heads or three butts, or something." He laughed as his trademark grin stretched from ear to ear. "What would you think about that? I mean, that'd be totally sweet, right?"
Not a peep could be heard from either of the twins. They continued to gaze up unblinkingly, both struggling to wrap their minds around the limitlessness that stretched on before their very eyes. Finally, Mabel let out hoarse whimper, which their friend took as a sign of agreement.
"Yeah, it's be so awesome." He chortled, then gave the pair a cheery wave. "All right dudes, I'm off. Seeya tomorrow morning!"
He then struck up whistling a cheery tune as he plodded over to his truck, sounding as content and carefree as could possibly be. The others meanwhile were left alone to stew quietly in their newfound existential terror. Feeling far too small for her liking, Mabel rolled over, and practically buried her head in her twin's side as she whined piteously, "I...I wanna go inside."
"Me too." Dipper hastily replied, and quickly they squirmed loose out of their sleeping bags. As they hurriedly started to roll up their bedding, Mabel glanced up at the sky one final time, and felt a shiver race down her spine.
"Can we sleep with the lights on tonight?" she asked hopefully.
Dipper nodded as they hurriedly headed off into the shack. "You say that like there's another option..."