Chapter 2
"Come on, Dipper!" Mabel told him. She started running for the dolphin.
"No, Mabel!" Dipper called to his sister. "Don't! The lifeguards know about these kinds of things; they can handle it. Mabel!" He sighed.
"Better go after her." Wendy said to Dipper.
"Right." He, Wendy, Stan and Soos went after Mabel.
Mabel was almost run over by running lifeguards.
"Oops, sorry." One said and continued his way to the dolphin. One also almost ran into Dipper.
"Sorry." He apologized. He ran again.
Dipper then tripped over a something.
"Get a move on Dipper!" Stan called to him.
"I am!" Dipper called back. "I just tripped on something." He then noticed something in the sand. He picked it up and dusted the sand off. He looked at it and gasped. It was a part of fishing net! He stood up and ran to the gathering around the beached dolphin.
"Poor fella." A lifeguard said. He shook his head. Mabel felt sad. Last year at school, she learned that dolphins and whales beach themselves sometimes and can't get back to the sea.
"I wonder what happened to it." Mabel said.
"I think I know why." Dipper said when he caught up to them. They all looked at him. He held out the net. "Look, what I found."
"What does that have to do with…" Mabel started to say, but then she gasped. "Someone was trying to catch it!" Dipper nodded.
"Right." He said. "The dolphin must've escaped and ended up beaching itself."
"This is weird," Someone observed. Mabel looked at her.
"What's weird?" She wanted to know. The woman looked at her.
"They're called Baiji, or Chinese River Dolphin, and they usually get pretty big, but this one is small for its size, and it looks like it's a baby, anyways, I went to China in 2007, and I didn't see any of these kinds of dolphins anywhere. I finally asked an expert at a aquarium and he said that the last Baiji died in 2002. They're functionally extinct." Mabel looked at her in confusion.
"What's that?" She wanted to know.
"It means that only a handful of them are alive. We're lucky to see one alive."
"It won't be for long," The lifeguard spoke. "Unless we get it to the water fast."
"Then we need to get it in the water!" Mabel said. "We can't let it die!" The lifeguard nodded.
"We won't." He told her. "But we won't be able to lift him. We need a stretcher."
"We don't have time! Come on; can't you see he's dying? He need water now!" The lifeguard nodded in agreement.
"You're right! Can you and some helpers keep the dolphin wet as I'll go get a stretcher?" Mabel saluted at the man.
"It'll be my pleasure." The lifeguard smiled.
"Thanks!" He then was off. Some people went to fetch buckets.
"I thought you wanted to leave in two hours, kid." Stan said to her. "Remember, you told the pig."
"I'm sure Waddles will understand, Grunkle Stan." Mabel said to her uncle. "This is life or death here."
"Okay." And with that, they all got water from the sea to pour on the dolphin. Mabel petted the baby dolphin.
"Don't worry." She assured it. "We will help you. You have nothing to fear." She then hugged it. She patted it some more, and went to get some water.
"I got a stretcher!" The lifeguard called. The people let him bring the stretcher to the beached dolphin. "So, how's the dolphin doing?"
"Hanging in there." Mabel answered. "But we can't pour water on him all day. He needs to be in a large body of water."
"That's why I'm here with the stretcher." He put it down. "Now, I need some strong people to help me." Some adult volunteers went on each side of the dolphin. "Okay, we lift on three. One, two, three!" They lifted the dolphin on the stretcher.
"Wow Mr. Pines!" Soos observed. "You sure are strong!"
"I worked out a lot when I was in prison." Stan told him. "Of course, I only worked out so that I can beat the snot out of my inmates." They lifted the stretcher and carried it to sea. The kids followed.
When the adults were in the sea and they lowered the stretcher and the dolphin swam off. They picked up the stretcher and marched back out. Mabel pumped out her fist.
"WHOO-HOO!" She cheered. "Yeah, we did it!" She looked out at the water.
"WHEREVER YOU ARE DOLPHIN, YOU'RE FREE! YOU ARE NO LONGER BEACHED!"
"Ready to go home, Mabel?" Dipper asked her. He had his shirt on.
"Ready!" Mabel answered. Her brother ran off. She looked back the sea.
"BYE DOLPHIN!" She called. "YOU DON'T GET BEACHED NOW YOU HEAR?" She was about to leave when she felt a splash.
"What the?" She asked herself and looked into the sea. The dolphin made bubbles and poked his head out, splashing water on her again with his blowhole. Mabel laughed.
"Oh, you!" She said. She splashed the dolphin back. "I got to leave." She was about to leave when the dolphin splashed her again. She looked at the dolphin with a mischievous grin. "Is that the best you can do?" She splashed the dolphin.
Pretty soon, Mabel and the dolphin splashed each other like she and Dipper did earlier. Mabel laughed each time. She laughed again when the dolphin performed one of his tricks for her; he walked on his tail fluke on the water's surface, making his sounds.
"Oh dolphin," She spoke. "You're so funny!"
"MABEL!" Dipper called.
"I'M COMING!" The girl shouted back. The dolphin stopped his trick and let Mabel scratch under his chin. "You're a good dolphin, aren't you?"
Suddenly, the dolphin bit onto her swimsuit.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" She yelled as she flipped into the water. The dolphin let go and let the girl resurface. When she did, she wasn't mad, all she did was burst out laughing.
"Are you okay?" A woman called to her, who was walking by where the sea met the sand. Mabel stopped laughing and looked at the woman.
"I'm fine!" She reassured her. The woman left and Mabel laughed again as she patted the dolphin when the dolphin nudged her with his nose.
"MABEL!" Dipper yelled again. "GRUNKLE STAN IS GETTING REALLY UPSET!"
"OKAY!" She shouted back. She rubbed the dolphin's nose again. "I really got to go!" She went back to shore. The dolphin cried. "I'm sorry; I wish you could come with me." The dolphin kept making pitiful sounds as Mabel put her shirt back on. She looked at the dolphin. The marine mammal looked at her as if saying 'Do you have to go? Can I come with you?'
"I'm sorry!" She told the dolphin. "You got to stay here." She looked at the pitiful look on the dolphin's face. She felt sad that the dolphin was sad. "Don't look at me like that; I would take you if I could but Stan won't like it. Oh, what the heck; you convinced me!" The dolphin cheered up and jumped up in the air and dived back in with a loud splash. Mabel put a finger to her mouth to tell the dolphin to be quiet.
"Shhhh! Shhhh! Not so loud." She said. She then pondered to herself. "Hmmm, how can I get you to the Mystery Shack?" She then snapped her finger with an idea. "The cooler!" She looked back at the dolphin.
"I'll be back to get you tonight!" She said and waved to her new friend. "See ya!" She left and the dolphin jumped up and dived down in the sea again.
"Mabel; where were you?" Dipper scolded when she saw her sister. "We were waiting for you for 15 minutes!"
"Sorry." She apologized. "I was looking for a bathroom."
"Uh, Mabel. There are no bathrooms on the beach."
"That's why it took me so long!"
"Well, we better hurry back then." Wendy spoke. "You can go to the bathroom back at the Mystery Shack." And with that, Mabel, Dipper, Stan, and Soos went into the car and put on their seatbelts. Stan put the keys in the ignition and they were off.
"WE'RE HOME, WADDLES!" Mabel announced as soon as they were back in the shack. Wendy had driven herself home. "Sorry we're late!" The muddy pig rushed in and greeted with a happy grunt, tracking mud everywhere. He ran into Mabel, getting her sweater all messy.
"Not in here!" Stan cried. Mabel patted her pig.
"You must be hungry." She gave out a laugh. "And you also need a bath." She stood up. "Come on, let's give you that bath." Waddles followed her to the bathroom.
"You should give yourself one too!" Stan called.
"I will!" Mabel promised. Stan gave the mop to Soos.
"Here Soos," He told him. "Clean this up." Soos looked confused as Stan headed towards the kitchen.
"All of it?"
"Yes, Soos, all of it."
"But, what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to make lunch." Soos beamed at that.
"Oh boy! For me too, sir?"
"Only if you do a good job in cleaning up this mess. I don't want to see any traces of mud when I'm done." Soos saluted.
"Yes sir! I won't let you down!" And with that, he mopped away. Stan grumbled.
"That pig needs to learn not to track mud everywhere."
When Mabel was done, she, Stan, Dipper, and Soos gathered around the table to eat their lunch. Mabel had put out Waddles' food and water in his bowls. The pig ate and lapped up the water.
When done, they all excused themselves to do their things. Mabel went to her room to play with Waddles.
"Can you keep a secret Wads?" Mabel asked her pig. Waddles just looked at her and gave her a grunt. "Of course you can." And so, she told her pet pig about the dolphin.
"I'm sneaking off tonight to go and get him." She concluded. "So, it's very important that Stan doesn't find out, okay?" Waddles oinked again. Mabel smiled and patted him. "Good pig; I know you won't tell a living soul." Mabel stood up.
"BRB!" She told Waddles. She then went downstairs.
She came back a few minutes later with a pen, a stamping book, a paper towel, and paper. She sat down and wrote something down. She held the paper in front of Waddles.
"This Waddles," She told him. "Is an agreement saying that you will be true in keeping your promise on keeping my secret, secret. Now since, you can't read, I'll read for you. Now, hold your right hoof." Waddles held up his right hoof. "Now, oink the following, 'I, Waddles, hereby solemnly swear to not tell a living soul about Mabel's dolphin.'" Waddles oinked in response. Next, Mabel opened the stamp pad. "Now, give me your hoof." Waddles pressed his hoof down into the ink. He then pressed it down on the paper, making a hoof print. Mabel wiped Waddle's hoof with a paper towel and put his hoof back on the floor. She closed the stamp pad.
"Okay Wads," She told him. "You go pick out a book for me to read to you while I put these away." Waddles oinked in agreement and went to the bookshelf as Mabel went to put them away.
He nudged Mabel when he picked one out. Mabel faced him.
"Okay Wads," She said. "What've you got?" She grabbed the book Waddles had picked out. There was a girl, a pig she was holding and a spider. The spider's web showed the title. "Hmmm, Charlene's Web. Good choice!"
Mabel walked and sat in a chair. Waddles trotted up and sat on his rump, waiting for his owner to start the story.
Mabel was about to begin when her uncle called her down for dinner.
"I'll be back, Wads," She promised the pig and put the book on the chair. She then went off.
That night, Mabel pretended to sleep. When everyone was in bed, she went out of bed and crept to the door, careful not to wake her brother. Waddles woke up and looked at her. Mabel gestured him to be quiet.
"SHHHHHH!" She whispered. Waddles nodded and went back to bed. Mabel went out of the room.
She crept by her uncle who had fallen asleep with the TV on. A bottle of Cool-a-Cola was in his hand. By the kitchen clock, she saw that it was a quarter to midnight. She opened the garage door and closed it softly behind her.
She grabbed the cooler, the wagon, placed the heavy cooler inside the wagon and went off, pulling the wagon.
"Dolphin!" She called in a whisper when she arrived at the beach. She put down the cooler. "Dolphin, I'm back! Dolphin; where are you? Dolphin!"
She hung her head sadly. She was about to go back when she felt a splash. She looked at who splashed her and beamed in a smile. "Dolphin!" She grabbed the cooler from off the wagon and filled it with sea water. She laid it down and panted.
"Okay," She spoke when she got her breath. She pointed to the cooler. "Hop in!" The dolphin shook his head and turned around. The dolphin did a clicking sound, flicking his head.
"Huh?" Mabel asked in confusion. "You want me to ride you?" The dolphin nodded. Mabel hesitated a moment. "Oh, what the heck!" She climbed onto the dolphin's back and the dolphin jumped in the air and back down with Mabel hanging on.
"WHOO-HOO!" The girl cheered loudly, forgetting to be quiet. "MIDNIGHT RIDE ON THE BACK OF A THOUGHT TO BE EXTINCT DOLPHIN, ALRIGHT!" She then remembered where she was and lowered her voice to a whisper again. "Okay dolphin, I think that's enough. The dolphin swam back to shore, letting Mabel off.
"You know, what? You need a name." She thought about this. The dolphin splashed her again and she laughed.
"You sure like to play a lot." She then snapped her fingers with a plan. "That's it; I'll call you Playful! You like that, Playful?" Playful clicked and whistled with glee. Mabel just laughed. "Okay, Playful it is." She went for the cooler and pointed in. "Hop in and I can take you to where I'm staying with my brother." Playful did one final jump in the sea before jumping in the water- filled cooler. Mabel dragged the cooler to the wagon and struggled to put it back in, now, with the extra weight. She went up front and grabbed the handle of the wagon.
"Okay, here we go." And with that, they were off, Mabel pulling as hard as she could.
They had reached the garage. Mabel fell to the floor in exhaustion. She stood up and walked up to Playful.
"Okay, Playful. You stay here for the night. I'll see you in the morning." She went for the door. "Night, Playful!" Playful jumped, clicking and whistling with glee.
Mabel yawned as she climbed into bed. Dipper was awake and looked at his sister.
"Mabel?" He asked. "Where did you go?" Mabel looked at him.
"Bathroom." She lied. Dipper went back to sleep.
I did it! Mabel thought to herself as she laid her head and her pillow and pulled her covers over her. I snuck out and got Playful without Dipper, Stan or Soos knowing! And with that, she, herself, went to sleep.