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Chapter 2: How Very Strange

There was something uncomfortable about having the girl around. Stan couldn't put it in words, but everything about his niece made him itch. She rarely spoke a word, and she moved through the house like a ghost.

Foreshadowing she is a ghost?

One minute she'd be there, and the next she'd be gone, and Stan never heard a sound. It came almost as a relief to him that she spent most of her time in the attic bedroom. He knew from the start he wouldn't enjoy having a kid around, but this was most certainly not what he expected. He expected her to run around, get in the way, and talk his ear off. One would think the silence would be preferable, but to Stan, something just didn't feel right.

Then there were her questions; her horrible questions that made Stan ridiculously nervous. Mabel would never talk, except out of the blue with the most shiver-inducing questions she could have asked. She would ask him if he thought she was crazy,

yes

or if he was going to send her away.

Absutlity

Stuff that had never crossed his mind, but now kept him up at night wondering what the heck was wrong with that girl.

everything!

Perhaps he should have expected so much. Perhaps he should have taken a hint when her parents had called to ask if she could stay the summer in the first place. All the talk of her being "special" and that she "acts sort of strange". Stan kicked himself for not seeing what was laid right in front of him. He wanted to call up her parents right now and ask for a straightforward answer: Is she crazy?

yes!

"No," Stan told himself over and over, "no she's not crazy, she's just...special." Dang, now he sounded like her parents.

"Everything's fine," he would say aloud, "Everything is fine." Stan was used to living alone, but when Mabel was around, he'd begun to develop a desperate need to say something out loud; just to break the silence, which only made things even more uncomfortable for both of them. Even when his niece wasn't in his presence, Stan would murmur aloud, as if her very being in the Mystery Shack created a need for someone to be saying something.

"Gotta stack the cans, save for the apocalypse," Stan muttered to himself

do you have to foreshadow?

as he stored ancient canned goods into a cupboard, his voice making him sound way more frantic than he felt. It was early in the morning, so Mabel wouldn't be up yet, but then again, Stan never quite knew.

OR DID HE? (2Spooky4Me Foreshadowing)

"Stack the meat, yeah, sell it big when the world ends," Stan was on the brink of breaking into a sweat just thinking about her. He stacked faster.

"What are you doing?"

Planning a get rich scheme, Mabel!

Stan's heart leapt in his chest. He spun around, grasping at his chest with one hand and the cupboard for stability with the other.

"Geez kid, you'll give me a heart attack," he gasped, relaxing a little.

Stan gets Heart Attack confrimed!

Little Mabel Pines stood before him, wearing the same hat as when she first arrived and a muted pastel tee shirt and skirt, along with the same stuffed sheep she was always carrying around. She didn't reply to Stan's comment, but stared holes through him as she waited for an answer.

"I'm just saving up food for the apocalypse,"

to sell to the people that live in this town and save lot of it for me (2Rich4You!)

Stan explained, stacking more cans, but not turning his back on the girl, "Can't be too careful."

Mabel looked down again, seemingly satisfied with the answer.

"Why don't you get some breakfast or something?" Stan asked, unsure of what she was thinking.

"I already had some," Mabel said in an uninterested tone.

how did you get the breakfast without Stan noticing? (RIP Waddles 2PigAte4Me)

"Oh," Stan said, pausing for a moment, unsure of what to say, "Then why don't you head outside or something, you've been hiding in the attic since you got here. You should get out, meet some people, could be good for you."

Mabel held out her stuffed toy and looked at it.

"Nobody likes me," she said matter-of-factly, "Only you," and she hugged the sheep.

Stan assumed she wasn't talking about him, but about the toy, "I think you should get out, you might surprise yourself."

Mabel didn't reply.

Mabel you need to talk!

"Anyway," Stan said, shutting the cupboard door, "I should be getting ready, first batch of tourists should show up soon," he said with a wink in his tone.

Mabel only turned and proceeded to silently leave the room and ascend the stairs to the attic.

Stan breathed a sigh. What was he going to do with that girl?

He sends her away?

xxxxx

Mabel lay on her stomach under her bed, snuggling her sheep toy under her chin. The attic wasn't much to look at: there was her pink bed with her things at the end, and another blue bed across the room, but it was covered in boxes, much like the rest of the room. Not like she needed the space, she wasn't going to do anything with it anyway. As a matter of fact, she rather liked having all the storage lying around. Unbeknownst to her uncle, Mabel enjoyed killing time by looking through all the boxes and closets, and making forts out of cardboard and sheets. The room was covered in her little hideouts, some better disguised than others. In one or two of her forts, Mabel could crawl inside and Stan would walk right by her, completely unaware of her presence.

Mabel kind of liked it at the Mystery Shack, at least compared to home.

This is her new home!

She loved all the boxes and forts of course, but then it was also good to be away from school and people in general. Her uncle was nice enough; he didn't ask a bunch of questions or force her to do anything. It seemed both of them liked to be left alone, and that he was only trying to start conversations to be polite, which wasn't so bad. He talked to her about normal things like school, hobbies, and what she thought about the Shack, which was actually a nice change from the excessively personal questions she usually received, and for that, Mabel tried to return the favor and ask questions in return, but she wasn't sure how much her uncle enjoyed it.

Mabel's train of thought was broken when she noticed a tiny creature crawling along the wooden floor. Mabel shifted her position so she could scoop it up in her palm. She loved bugs and spiders, mostly because they were so small and were content to crawl around between her fingers. Mabel could identify a good number of the little beasts, but this particular creature was unfamiliar to her. Upon closer investigation she found it wasn't an insect at all, but it more resembled a tiny mushroom with a pair of feathery legs and arms. Mystified, Mabel watched as it strolled on her palm, it's textured limbs tickling her hand. She brought it closer to her face, gazing in wonder at the curious creature. At that moment the little mushroom turned and realized the comparatively gigantic face staring down at it. It's black bead eyes went wide and it began to scurry frantically around her palm. Mabel quickly lowered her hand to the ground at the creature jumped lightly off and disappeared in a crack in the floor. Mabel stared at the place where it disappeared for a good long time, a fascinated smile slowly forming at her lips, but then there was a gentle knocking at the door.

"Um, hello?" Said an unfamiliar voice, muffled through the door. The door was slowly pushed open, and Mabel silently crawled on her stomach to see who was coming in. A rather large man, dressed in a pair of shorts, a baseball cap, and a shirt with the Mystery Shack question mark logo on it peered through the opening in the doorway. "Mabel?" he said tentatively.

"Yes?" Mabel replied, still out of sight under the bed.

"Oh, uh," The man was obviously confused as he glanced around the room in an attempt to locate the source of the voice, "I'm Soos, we haven't met, but uh, Mr. Pines asked if I would tell you he wanted us to go hang up some signs together. So yeah, here I am...where are you?"

"I'm right here," Mabel said quietly, snaking her way out from under the furniture.

"Are you a ghost or something? 'Cuz I can't quite see you,"

Foreshadowing too much!

Soos asked, not noticing her as she moved.

Mabel stood up and Soos jumped a little when he saw her, but then he relaxed.

"Oh good," he said, wiping his brow, "You never really know in this town."

Mabel looked down at the place where she saw the mushroom man disappear.

"Really?" She asked, "What have you seen?"