Here's another quick little piece I whipped up when I had some unexpected free time. Enjoy!
When the temperatures climbed to hellishly high levels in the small northwest town of Gravity Falls, many automatically sought relief in the town pool. However, for at least one local and two summer residents, that was no longer a viable option. As fired employees, Wendy and Dipper couldn't go back without facing some trouble from the arguably psychotic head lifeguard. Mabel meanwhile of course stuck with them in loyal solidarity.
Thankfully, that didn't mean they had no choice but to sweat like pigs whenever a heatwave hit. They simply had to trek out into the woods and get a little bit creative. If she gave it just a little bit of thought, Wendy had to admit that she honestly preferred a dip in a one of the local ponds with her two younger friends to the public pool. Not only could they cool off, but they could do so and whatever they pleased in relative private. Never would she have imagined having running into any genuine trouble while going for a dip in one of the local swimming holes.
That made the shock all the more jarring when trouble presented itself with an abrupt assault on her ears.
"Mabel? Mabel! MABEL!"
Wendy had been sitting on the shore, grabbing a quick snack when she heard the flurry of panicked cries. Her head snapped back towards the pond so fast she almost gave herself whiplash. To her dismay, she could only see one of the twins splashing about in the water, when she could have sworn both had been there only a minute earlier.
Dipper's eyes were nearly bulging from their sockets. With every passing second his hysteria seemed to grow twofold.
"Mabel? MABEL!" He cried hoarsely again. With his sister nowhere to be found above water, the tween took a deep breath and vanished from sight beneath the surface. Bits of potato chip went flying as Wendy choked in alarm. Hastily sprang to her feet just as Dipper reappeared a heartbeat later, thankfully now carrying his sister in one arm. Mabel however was obviously in bad shape. She hung limply like a wet rag doll in her brother's hold. Instinctively he started in a furious beeline back towards the shore.
"It's okay...I got you..." The boy gasped between desperate strokes. "I got you, I...it's gonna be okay..." Unfortunately he soon found that there was only so far he could go borne on the strength of just one mere noodle arm. He only made it halfway before he started to seriously flounder.
"I-I got you!" He coughed out an accidental mouthful of pond water, yet continued to selflessly strive on. "I...I got...okay, not so sure anymore...wait, no, yes I...oh no...oooh no, not good..."
Thankfully, the cavalry was on the way. Arms pumping hard, Wendy charged down and dove headfirst into the water. The moment she resurfaced, her pale limbs became blurs as her strong stroke shot her toward the twins like a rust-haired torpedo. In almost no time she was there by their side. The lanky teen stopped only for the briefest moments to hastily sweep the unconscious Mabel into her grasp.
Wendy then fired back towards the shore, with Dipper flailing only a few feet behind. Neither one had probably never swam so furiously in all their entire lives. Ignoring the loud aches in their burning muscles, together they sliced through the water at a panic-fueled pace that would have been the envy of most Olympic swimmers. The teen was soon hustling out onto dry land, with her frightfully still preteen friend lying limply in her arms. She hurriedly lay her down on one of the towels.
"Mabel? Mabes? Mabel!" Wendy gently slapped the girl's cheek. No response. Mabel simply lay there in a soggy heap. The teen's gut tightened with horror. "Oh man. She's not-"
"Move!" Dipper dropped to his knees and placed his hand's over his twin's stomach. However, he had barely pressed down when Mabel instantly turned into a human well pump. The small brunette was sudden full of life as she thrashed and sputtered. Water gushed from her mouth, and she continued to cough it up until she had expelled enough to fill up a large fish tank. Now moaning weakly, she slowly cracked open her eyes to finally meet the others' worried gazes.
"Mabel?" Dipper whispered hopefully.
Horror surged through her body with the force of a flash flood. Afraid that someone was about to perform rescue breaths on her, she shot up like a jack-in-the-box and hurriedly threw her hands up over her face. "No! No! Nonononono! NUH-UH!"
To have Wendy give her mouth-to-mouth would be awkwardly weird. To have her own twin do it would be beyond nightmarish. Desperate to avoid both fates, Mabel clambered to her feet and started hopping about.
"See? Look, all better! Feelin' just fine and dandy, see? I'm okay, la la la la...la..." For one so small, the petite preteen could hold a surprising amount of liquid. She coughed up a fishbowl's worth of water, and sat down hard with a piteous moan. "I-I feel like barf now."
Dipper was nearly overcome with relief to see his twin alive and in goofy action. He leaned in, and every single muscle in his sister's body became as tense as a taut rope. She instinctively clamped her lips tightly shut with a muffled squeak of refusal.
"Nevermind I'm feeling better again!" She gasped, but quickly relaxed when she saw that he only wanted to give her a massive hug. Wendy was likewise thankful beyond words that the scare was over. The teen sighed happily and ruffled her friend's soggy chocolate locks.
"Feelin' all right?" She cracked a wan grin.
"Yeah...I'm okay now. Thanks" She smiled weakly, right before a harsh gag forced its way out of her throat "Yecch! C-can I have some water? Good water?"
Dipper fished through one of the backpacks. He quickly dug out a water bottle which his twin hastily snatched out his hands. As she furiously washed the bitter taste of pond from her mouth, he gently draped another towel around her shoulders.
"All right. So long as we agree to never do that again, let's just say you're the undisputed champion for the rest of the summer. Deal?" He bluntly offered.
"That's got my vote. I was thinking about having a go on the next round, but after that...oh, man." Wendy shook her head and heaved deeply. Mabel's cheeks began to glow a bright crimson as she nodded in wholehearted agreement.
"Yeah, I-I get it...no more breath-holding contests..."