"...Hey…hey, Dipper? Dipper!"
"What?"
"Why did the cow go into space?"
"Oh, no..."
"Why did the cow go into space?"
"C'mon, Mabel, I don't want to-"
"Dipper, why did the cow go into space?"
"No. Not again."
"Dipper! Why did the cow go into space?"
"No."
"Why did the cow go into space?"
"No."
"Why did the cow go into space?"
"Nooooooo."
"Dipper! Why did-"
"If I do this, do you promise that this is going to be the last one?"
"Maaaaaybe."
"…Okay, fine. Why did the cow go into spa-"
"Because she wanted to travel to the mooooooooon!" Mabel promptly cracked up so hard she almost tumbled off the rock that she had been using as a seat.
It was the seventh moon-based joke that she had cooked up in the last five minutes, and her stonefaced brother didn't even crack the faintest hint of a smile. His mood however did nothing to dampen her glee. Still giggling like mad, the young girl peered back up at the silver half-circle hanging in the sky. As soon fresh inspiration struck no more than moment later, she happily reneged on her word. "Hey, Dipper? When's the moon not-"
"Okay, you tell one more joke, and I'm out of here." Dipper warned flatly. Undeterred as always, she delivered a hard poke to his shoulder.
"What's wrong, brother? Afraid you might laugh? Scared you might have some fun out here?" She mercilessly teased. "Hmmm?"
"Getting up now." He tucked the old tome under his arm and announced in a deadpan. "Orienting myself…turning towards the Shack…"
Mabel called off the attack, and instead flashed him a shining pair of puppy dog eyes. "I'll stop if you read about them again. Pleeeease? I promise!"
She had to literally cross her heart to get him to stop glaring skeptically at her. Dipper settled back down next to her in the grass, dutifully reopened Journal Number Three and shined his flashlight on the relevant entry. His twin leaned in close, listening away intently as he read the specific passage or the third time that night.
"Star flowers…the name I have given this local plant practically says it all. If you ever want to see them for yourself, no amount of searching during the day will do you any good. They will only reveal themselves on clear summer evenings, when the stars are in full view. Based on my observations, they tend to grow together in clumps, usually around a stump or decomposing log. Why they do this exactly is something that I've yet to figure out…"
Dipper's lackluster tone made it plain that he was hardly thrilled to be there. Of all the mysteries and secrets that the woods had to offer, a bunch of flowers that bloomed at night was very low on the grand list of things that he wanted to investigate. It was Mabel who had thought up tonight's outing after some aimless flipping through the journal earlier that day in a fit of boredom. He only joined along after succumbing to a relentless barrage of figurative and literal prodding from his over-enthusiastic sister.
The boy impassively read on, until Mabel suddenly exploded with a piercing squeal. "Dipper, look! LOOK! Dipper, LOOK!"
Startled, he hurriedly did as bid. It would appear that they had chosen their stakeout spot well. Only a few feet away in the middle of the little clearing, tiny buds had begun to sprout from the earth around the old redwood stump. There were already at least a half-dozen, but more were suddenly popping up left and right with every passing moment. In seconds there were no less than twenty of them.
Following an invisible cue, they all began to rise up on top of pale green stalks. Gracefully they twisted and turned as they steadily rose from the ground towards the shining night sky, as if part of a choreographed dance. After rising about a foot, they launched into their grand finale. One by one the buds opened wide, revealing brilliant seven-pointed blossoms. The moment each milky-white bundle of petals exposed itself to the light of the twinkling stars above, they lit up with a gorgeous sparkle. It was as if each one had been sprinkled with a fine layer of diamond dust, and the sight stole the breath right out of the mesmerized siblings.
"...Whoa." Dipper found himself at an utter loss for words.
"I knew it would be amazing! Didn't I tell you? Who was right? Mabel was right! Oh yeah!" Mabel jubilantly high fived herself before feasting her eyes on the glorious spectacle. The little girl patted her rosy cheeks and cooed in awe, "They're beaaauuutifuulllll."
Dipper wasn't going to try to argue. If anything, he almost wanted to kick himself for being such a pill before. Never before in all their past adventures and outings had they come across anything so wonderfully eye-catching. Best of all, there didn't seem to be any bizarre catch as far as he could tell. It was nothing more than beautiful eye-candy.
"Mabel…these are incredible." He gasped.
"I know! They're beaaauuutifuulllll." His sister whispered again.
Like a moth to flame, the inquisitive boy crouched down next to the patch of jewel-like plants. Questions started to bubble up quickly in his mind. "They're like…they're almost like…what am I saying? They're like nothing I've ever seen."
"Beaaauuutifuulllll." She murmured breathlessly.
"They don't use sun like other plants. How is that even possible? Is it just the starlight?" Dipper looked up to the brightly lit skies above. "Do you think that's all they really need?"
"Beaaauuutifuulllll." Mabel delicately touched one of the exquisite blossoms, and giggled in delight. He checked Journal Number Three for answers.
"Do they feed on anything else? What do they do during the day?" The boy wished he had brought a video camera. This would have made for an incredible episode of his Guide to the Unexplained.
"...Beaaauuutifuulllll."
"Do they just lie dormant?" Dipper kept musing out loud, lost in his own little world. "The book doesn't say much else. "I wonder…"
"… Dipper?" Both Mabel's tune and tone had abruptly changed. A sense of urgency now suddenly hung heavily in her voice. Her twin however was completely oblivious to the change. Dipper got down on his knee to examine one of the stunning flowers up close.
"Mabel, check this out!" He laughed. "They're pointing right at the moon! Seriously, right at it!"
"Dipper!" Mabel whispered.
"See? They're dead on!" The hopelessly overexcited boy babbled away. "Do you think they follow it all night? Why-"
"D-Dipper!" She grabbed his vest and tugged hard.
"What? What's wro-" He finally switched his attention. Even in the moonlight, he could tell that his twin had suddenly gone pale. A lump automatically in his throat as he looked towards where she pointed.
Not far away amongst the towering evergreens, they could see two bright hovering orbs. Each one glowed a brilliant gold, and were affixed with pitch black dots square in their centers. Dipper at first genuinely just confused by the sight. It was only when the strange orbs blinked at him did he realize that he was gawking at the largest pair of eyes that he ever had the misfortune of seeing in his entire life.
"…Oh." Slowly he rose his feet. "Uh...well okay then..."
"W-we…we should head back." Mabel feebly attempted to smile disarmingly at the unblinking eyes. Meanwhile, she clasped brother's shoulder in an iron grip. "Grunkle Stan's probably wondering w-where we are..."
"Yeah...sounds like a plan..." Dipper murmured. Together the two continued to slowly back away at a cautious snail's pace, both afraid that moving too suddenly would trigger an immediate mauling. Despite it being a clear night, they honestly had no clue what on earth they were facing. All they make out were the horrifyingly huge eyes burning in the dark, watching away.
There was a crunch of leaves as their monstrous observer took one step. That was all it took to trigger the two into a panicked retreat. Mabel screamed and gave her brother a hard shove.
"GO! GO! MOVE THOSE SKINNY NOODLE LEGS!"
The two bolted off. They had barely gotten thirty feet when the boy accidentally dropped his flashlight. He tried to hurriedly backtrack, but his twin grabbed him by the wrist and yanked so hard that she nearly dislocated his shoulder.
"Are you crazy?" She gasped. "Leave it!"
"Mabel, we can't see anything!"
"It doesn't matter! Just-"
A branch snapped underfoot as the mysterious abomination followed along after them. Dipper's heart skipped a beat. Quick as lightning he grabbed her arm, and now it was his turn to lead the way to safety. The two plunged blindly into the dark woods in a mad effort to try to put as much distance as humanly possible between whatever had so brutally interrupted their evening.
"Faster! C'mon, go! Go!" Mabel breathlessly urged between heaving gasps. She braved a glance over her shoulder, took one glance at the gigantic shining eyes and let out a shrill scream.
"Why? Why?" Dipper angrily growled to the fates, or whoever had decided that their night was destined to go downhill so spectacularly. "We were just looking at flowers! Why couldn't we just look at the stupid flowers?"
"They weren't stupid! They were gorgeous!" Mabel couldn't help but beg to differ as she furiously pumped her arms.
"That's not the point-" As he should have expected, things took a sudden and nasty turn for the worse. With his flashlight gone, Dipper failed to notice the massive protruding tree root dead in their path until he tripped over it. Scrawny arms went flailing as he stumbled into his sister. A beat later the two were sent tumbling fast down a small incline. Their painful rolling ended when they finally landed in such a mess that it was impossible to tell which limbs belonged to whom.
Dipper's head spun. By the time he came around, the enormous set of eyes were steadily growing closer to where he and his sister lay. The preteen's aching body tensed up, and in a fit of desperation he began scrambling madly all around. He could feel his fingers brush up against a nearby stick. He snatched it off the ground and hurled it as hard as he could. His accuracy was surprisingly dead on. Yet when it sailed right between the gigantic eyes, it was as if it had hit nothing but empty air.
"EVIL!" Mabel came around with a piercing shriek of despair. Onwards the mysterious forest-beast marched, steadily drawing closer and closer. Both siblings fought like mad to untangle themselves and escape the terrible-
"Hey, are you guys okay?" The "monster" stepped out into a patch of pale starlight and into view for the first time.
The stunned twins could practically hear the fright abruptly leave their bodies in a massive rush. Standing before them was a creature that was nothing like the horrifying behemoth they had expected. The only thing mammoth about it were the two enormous eyes that stood supported on a pair of long, skinny and surprisingly strong stalks. These in turn sprouted from a small humanoid little thing that anyone would be hard pressed to consider scary. Between its bright canary-yellow fur, mitten hands and the fact that it was fully a head shorter than either of the tweens, it looked more like a rejected Sesame Street character than anything else.
"That looked like a nasty fall." It remarked in a soft squeak. The enormous eyes now began to move independently of one another as it worriedly checked them over. "Are you hurt?"
"Er...no, I think we're okay." Dipper stammered, head spinning. "Mabel, you all right?"
"My brain hurts." Mabel was still getting over her shock.
"Sorry. Here, let me help. Grab on." It hovered its giant eyes a little closer. "It's okay, it doesn't hurt me at all! C'mon!"
After a little more coaxing, the twins grabbed a stalk each, and with almost no effort the little creature lifted them cleanly from their snarl and back onto their feet.
"There you go! Oh, and you dropped this back there." It kindly handed over their missing flashlight. Dipper dumbly accepted it back with a nod, and clicked it back on to give them a better look. As the electric light shined on the little monster, it somehow looked even more harmless than before.
Mabel gasped, and immediately burst out beaming with delight. "Awww! You're like a Muppet!"
"Gee, thanks!" It politely replied, then cocked its head. "What's a Muppet?"
"Uh, nothing. It's not important. We just..." Dipper's shoulders sagged as he heaved a mighty sigh. At that moment, his relief knew no bounds. "Oh man, I am so happy to see that it's just...I don't know how else to put this... just you, uh...whatever you are. No offense."
"Thimbulnuggins. The name's Thimbulnuggins." It warmly introduced itself, as if it wasn't heart-meltingly cute enough already. Mabel clenched her hands and squealed in glee. After going from amazing to absolutely terrifying, the night had gone right back to being amazing for her As she bounced joyously on her heels, the little thing squeaked sweetly, "Anyways, I'm really sorry about that nasty spook I gave you back there."
"It's nothing!" Mabel accepted the apology with a giggle. As with most furry things, she was slavishly compelled to pet it. Wasting not a moment more, the hopelessly over-stimulated girl reached over began patting it on the head. Shivers of unbridled delight started racing down her spine, and she whispered happily to her twin, "It's so soft! Dipper, it's like a weird teddy bear!"
Not only was it as nice and helpful as could be, the little thing was patience personified as well. It let her vigorously pet away as she pleased. "You guys are too kind! Really, I should have said something earlier. Again, I'm sorry. I was just trying to get a quick look and see what you two were up to this time. Good call tonight on the flowers! This is the best time of year to-"
"Wait, wait." Dipper could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Their new friend suddenly became much less charming. "Um, hold on just a sec?"
"Yes?" The creature squeaked.
"...What do you mean by 'this time?'" The boy demanded warily.
"Oh come on, you know!" Thimbulnuggins laughed. "You guys are always up to something interesting! And you're not that hard to miss way out here. At least, it's not that hard for my people. Watching is kind of our thing."
"…You've watched us before?" Mabel hastily withdrew her hand as things continued to take an awkward turn. His lovableness was diminishing rapidly by the second.
"Yup! No one watches you better than we stalkers do!" Noting their wordless stares, Thimbulnuggins chuckled and playfully tugged one of his eyestalk. "I know, not much of a name, right? We're not the most creative bunch."
The twins kept gaping open mouthed in a dead silence. All fun had been soundly sucked out of the moment for them. Blind to their raging discomfort, the tiny creature headed off with a wave of his fuzzy little hand.
"Anyway, it's so nice to finally talk to you guys. You kids have a nice time flower-gazing, all right? I'll be seeing you!" He winked, struck up whistling a merry tune, and vanished off into the night-darkened woods. The twins were left alone stewing in a painfully deep unease.
Dipper flashed his light about and hastily gathered his bearings. "Soooo...I think the Shack's back over that way. You wanna go h-"
"Uh-huh." His sister grabbed his shoulder and took the lead. The two trotted back home, constantly glancing about to make sure no other eyes were watching through the trees.
After glancing around her for the dozenth straight time in a row, Mabel moved a little closer to her twin's side and shivered violently. "Dipper?"
"Uh huh?
"I think I liked it better when I thought we were about to get eaten..."