Mabel
Mabel Pines here and here's my thought of the day; Why are bus rides always so bumpy?
I was having this dream where I was surfing even though I don't even know how to surf and somehow the water was all reddish, kinda like Pit Cola now that I think about it, and then somehow I was in a competition with a bunch of other surfers and they were all like "Radical moves, Mabel Pines!" and I remember curtsying but I don't even know how I would do that on a surf board. Anyway then halfway through I remembered that I couldn't surf at all and the waves got all bumpy and I was thrown off my board into the searing hot sand, face first. That's about when I woke up to slam my head into the seat in front of us. I peel my face off the the back of the seat, massaging my throbbing nose as the bus continued to throw around my barely awake body.
I hear a familiarly snarky giggle to my right. Meet Dipper Pines everybody, but don't call him that because he thinks it's too "immature". His real name's Mason which is a wayy lamer name than Dipper, not that he needs help getting any lamer. His brown hair curls at the ends and puberty left him with a relatively acne face (lucky him) and a small bit of stubble on his chin, which was weird cause he usually doesn't let it stay there unless he's really obsessed with something. He's sitting beside me, wearing a red flannel button up over a black t-shirt (bold fashion choice, twin brother.), stifling his laughter with his marker stained arms as he keeps glancing at me, finally peeling his eyes away from his book. Sorry, his journal. He doesn't like it when you call it a book.
"Wait a second…..is that Dipper I spy LAUGHING? I thought that super serious act you were putting on meant you couldn't laugh." I say, elbowing him in the ribs.
"Ack- What are you talking about?"
"What am I TALKING about? Oh my GOD Dipper, wait wait wait no, this is you, this is literally you." I get up on my knees on the probably gross bus seats, looping some of my hair over my lips. "Ugh, hi, I'm Dipper and I'm oh so serious aaaaall the time. Ew Mabel are you drawing with crayons? You know I'm allergic to colors. God, Mabel are you writing your notes with a GREEN pen?"
His eyes narrow as he stares at me. "You write your notes in green pen?"
"Yes I write my notes in green pen there's nothing wrong with green pens, what do you have against green pens?" I say hurriedly. Sensing another Dipper rant incoming, I jump to change the conversation but luckily I don't have to because as Dipper opens his mouth to say something his eye catches a sign that blurred past the bus windows. He mouths the words as he runs his hand through his hair.
"Gravity Falls.." He says in a breathless whisper. "It's been so long since I've seen those words." A balloon of wonder expands in my chest, hammering against my heart as memories of a distant summer resurface in my head. A summer of grappling hooks, of friends, failed romances, mystery and a whole lot of adventure. Like, a stupid amount of adventure. I hear a snort by my thighs as something slightly wet brushes up against me, its head curled up in my lap. And pigs. It was also a summer of pigs, specifically, the cutest pig in the whole wide world, Waddles.
The pig nudges my waist, waking itself up from its little nap. I reach over and pinch his little cheeks, scratching him underneath his neck. "Ohh good morning Waddles, who's my good little piggy? You are, yes you are…Oh good boy." Dipper scoffs and leans back in his seat, obviously jealous that Waddles likes me better, snapping open his book again and murmuring "We're nearly there. We're nearly back." His book, wrapped and studded in black leather. In the center was a silver pine three, sewn into the cover that gleamed in the dusk light.
The seconds pass, turning to anxious minutes as we kinda just sit there, both of us pretending we're doing something else and totally not thinking of the quickly approaching town of nostalgia. I'm getting antsy in my seat, kicking the chair in front of us as my heart starts to beat. The feeling reminds me of every time I've had to step onto the mats for a tournament, the fear and anticipation. I've won medals for karate championships, I've faced down girls (and guys thank you very much) twice my size and I was shaking in my seat now. Funny how feelings work like that.
The bus comes to a screeching halt. Waddles, still half asleep, gets up and starts trotting towards the front of the bus, mindlessly chewing on the bus seat fabric.
"Ew, waddles no, don't eat the bus seats they're filthy you have no idea where they've been." I slip my hands underneath Waddles belly and pick him up, grunting with effort. "Whew, maybe lay off the waffles, eh Waddles? Oh my god wait no, Dipper, Dipper." I start tapping his shoulder with a ferocity unmatched. "Dipper what if I, no hear me out, hear me out, what if Waddles, was named Waffles? Because he loves Waffles!?"
Dipper's subsequent face of disgust was interrupted by the bus driver yelling out from the front, "Hey, you kids gonna hop off anytime this century?"
Dipper snaps his book shut and starts shoving me from behind towards the front of the bus. "Yep, yep we're coming." He yells out, pushing his glasses up his nose with his thumb. We pull our suitcases out of their compartments, hopping off into the familiar dirt of the town we left behind. We lug our bags and for a second I'm so overcome by how crazy it is that we're back that I just drop my bags on the floor and take a huge deep breath in. One that would have probably smelt like pine trees and Lazy Susan's coffee but was ruined by the bus driving off and spraying its fumes into us. But nothing could ruin this moment, not a single thing in the whole world.
Gravity Falls, we're back, after two whole years. Prepare to throw us the biggest welcome back party the world has ever seen. The Pines twins are back baby.
Dipper
After all this time, I'm finally back where it all began. Gravity Falls.
The air smells of pine cones and faintly of pennies. The smell of adventure, and a very familiar one to say the least. One that I breathed in everyday for a whole summer, one that was extremely hard to part with. One that I finally return to after 2 whole years of waiting. We lug our suitcases towards the Mystery Shack, the old, partially rotting tourist trap that we used to live in. I can still recall the smell of coffee in the mornings and peeling myself off the slightly salty smelling couch on sweltering Sunday afternoons. Taking the same dirt path we 2 years ago, we make our way towards the old house.
Mabel gets ahead of me, humming as she practically skips towards the shack of supposed mystery. Her hair hung freely around her shoulders, she had cut it shorter a while ago. She was wearing a shoulder-less sweater top with bell sleeves and some jeans, all articles of clothing were somehow glimmering as if she had sprinkled glitter all over them. She takes a step towards the door and takes a deep breath, hopping from foot to foot with that natural athleticism that came with being a karate star. She raps against the doorknob with her knuckles and for a second it all hits me at once. I'm back in Gravity Falls, where I found the journals, where I jumped onto the back of a huge robot, where I battled demons and ghosts and puberty. I hold my journal a little closer to my chest as the door swings open.
We're suddenly crushed together and lifted into the air, for a second my mind jumps to some sort of ambush or attack before I realise who exactly is squeezing the life out of me. Soos Ramirez, the all new Mr Mystery is currently crushing the air out of our lungs in what has to be the longest bear hug in history. The ex handy-man puts us down and wipes a stray tear from his eyes. "Oh, dudes, I can't believe this. You guys are finally back, the Mystery Shack isn't the same without it's mystery twins, Dipper and Maple."
"It's Mabel, Soos."
"Yeah, Maple."
"No Soos, Mabel. Not like the syrup." I feel my grin widen at Mabel's growing exasperation. Soos nods for a moment, his hand on his chin in what he must think is a thoughtful gesture. "Right. Yep. Mable. Sorry Mabel, my memory gets a little foggy after long periods of time. Love what you've done with the hair by the way."
She sputters as she turns to me, gesturing to her face and then Soos, "SEE? People love the short hair."
"Oh yeah, total fashion statement." Soos nods along enthusiastically. "Very bold."
"Enough about my hair! Let's get our stuff inside and catch up!" Mabel exclaims, gesturing for me to go first. As I pass through the doorway to the foot of the stairs I can swear I heard Mabel hissing to Soos "We will continue this conversation later."
The shack was exactly how I'd remembered it. Soos had done a good job maintaining it, as expected of the guy who used to keep it running single handedly as a repair guy, now he keeps it running as the manager. The old floorboards brought back familiar memories, each and every creek causing a memory to resurface in my subconsciousness. My gaze lingers on the staircase as a chill settles in my stomach, a certain bout of memories return, some that I would much rather forget. In my mind's eye I see a young boy with a white and blue hat running around the house alongside a girl in a pink sweater. Thing's were simpler back then.
"Hey Dipper, you just missed Wendy." A jolt runs through me as I remember a brilliant flash of red and green and the smell of oak and something rich and earthy. Wendy, the girl I was obsessed with 2 years ago. God that was gonna be such a mind fuck. "Wendy? She still works here?" Soos stands behind the counter, bumping open the cash register and counting out all the bills, "Oh well, she quit for a while to uh focus on school but boom, now she's back at the shack. Heh heh, that was a good rhyme dudes write this down somewhere, seriously."
"Why would she quit and then reapply for the same job?" I lean against the desk, drinking in all the familiar and unfamiliar sights. "I dunno dude you can ask her yourself." He puts the cash down and sighs, leaning his elbow against the register. "Gosh this is so cool, Dipper and Maple-"
"Mabel, Soos." Mabel responds, absentmindedly prodding at the globe on the desk.
"Dipper and Mabel back at last. Just wait till everyone finds out it's gonna be so epic dawg."
"Sh, sh Soos, let's keep it quiet for now. We wanna make it a surprise, you know?" Mabel pipes up, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.`
I meet my sister's gaze and fail at fending off her infectious smile. My lips widen into an excited grin as the prospect of meeting everyone again seems to thrill her as much it does me.
"So how old are you two dudes? I'm not so good with math." Soos breaks the giddy silence.
"Oh we're only 15, no big deal except it totally is!" Mabel responds nudging me for dramatic effect.
"My two little dudes are growing up so fast." Soos stammers, getting a little misty as he speaks. "It's enough to make a grown man cry."
I place my hand on his shoulder good naturedly, "Chin up Soos, It's only been two years."
"Which is a huge amount of time when you really think about it." Mabel murmurs to herself.
"Shut up Mabel." I mutter darkly at her.
"Shutting up, bro bro."
"Don't call me that."
"That's where I'm gonna have to draw the line bro bro." She shoots back with a mocking salute. I sigh and shrug, one out of two is good enough. "Moving on, Soos, how's it been manning the shack all on your lonesome? I imagine it gets hard sometimes." I ask to try and change the conversation.
Soos perks up immediately. "Oh dudes, you don't know? I'm not alone, the Mystery Shack is run by a Mr AND Mrs Mystery." I exchange an questioning glance with Mabel. "Mrs Mystery? Who-"
"Heyo kids!" A distantly familiar voice exclaims as she walks in behind us. "Melody! Girl, it's been so long. How you been?" Mabel swivels around on her heels, running in for a hug. I linger behind a little, stalking up behind her with my own greeting and an appreciative nod. "Been a while."
"Don't mind Dipper's dry responses, he's just really awkward." Mabel quips cheerfully. I give her a well aimed kick in the shins as I grunt disapprovingly. Communication was never my strong suit.
"Ah well, I don't mind. Soos here wasn't all that good at talking either but, well here we are. Mr and Mrs Mystery, sorry if you think I don't fit in here."
"No, No Melody are you kidding? this is perfect! Now you and Soos can be together AND we can see you all the time." Mabel responds merrily, "Right, Dipper?"
"Oh yeah, big time. This is great news." I nod sagely along, letting Mabel do most of the talking.
"Speaking of big news…" Soos begins but trails off as Melody playfully nudges him, making a shushing gesture. "Uhhhhhh hey look its a uh…distraction?" he says rather lamely.
"Soos you aren't foolin anyone, big guy. Is this a mystery I smell?" Mabel looks at me expectantly with a devious grin. I was about to pipe up as well when a distraction actually DID walk in in the form of Stanford Pines, our great uncle. Grunkle, for short.
"Hey kiddos!" He struts in, wearing a red turtleneck sweater vest and a cheery smile. "Been a while." Mabel grins and runs up to hug him as well as I think about how that was exactly what I had said. Not that I'm saying we're similar just saying it's a cool coincidence. Or maybe, you know, we're just two of a kind. I mean, I am the author of my OWN journal now. Can't wait to show him.
"Dipper, not gonna give your great uncle a hug?"
"Grunkle, Ford. It's Grunkle."
"You're doing a lot of correcting lately Mabel, maybe you're just wrong." I say with a smirk, exchanging a hug with the man I idolized for so long, and still do. He smelt of coffee, oil and window cleaner.
"How can I be wrong if I'm 'correcting' someone? Hm? Hm? Using your own language against you, boom take that."
I respond the only way that feels appropriate, by rolling my eyes.
"Ford, this is so great, I have so many theories to run by you-" I say, getting my journal out from behind me.
"Now, now, Dipper. I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to discus- oh my god that is a nice looking journal."
"I know, right?"
"That's one good looking cover. Oo and that is some quality paper." He says as he runs his fingers over the spine.
"I know, right? I got a bunch at this sale a while back, I think they said it was from Japan."
"Now that is exotic." Stanford nods appreciatively.
"Hey, Grunkle Ford," Mabel shivers giddily, "Oh yeah, been waiting to say that again. Where's Grunkle Stan?"
"Oh he's…out." Ford seems to grow a little uncomfortable at this. "I don't want to say, I'm sure he'll explain it when he gets back. Its…complicated. Until then, Mabel can take the attic and you, Dipper, can take my old room. I'll sleep in Lee's until he's back. We can figure things out from there."
"Oh what, you dudes aren't gonna sleep in the same room? Like the good old days?" Soos pipes up from behind the counter. Melody stifles a little giggle as Stanford scratches his head nervously.
"Come on Soos, we're 15. We can't keep sleeping in the same room." I respond, readjusting my glasses that had gotten a little wonky from all the hugging today.
"I mean we COULD have a few sleepovers here and there but yeah, Dipper's right. We're too old for that Soos." Mabel agrees, nodding her head along with me. "Also, now I get the attic all to myself. That's a win for Mabel."
"I seem to recall a certain someone fighting me for that room once." I say, nudging her teasingly.
"Psh, that rooms lame. Besides, I get the attic which means I get all the nostalgia to myself." She shoots back. I hate to admit it, but she had a point. I was almost sad to lose the opportunity to spend another night in that musty old attic that contained so many rich memories. Almost. Nostalgia wasn't worth catching some sort of disease, and I highly doubt Stan had anyone clean the attic after we left.
As we turn to retrieve our luggage Soos calls out from behind us. "Hey dudes, so how long are you staying?" Mabel and I both whip our heads around with our own answers.
"Indefinitely." I say darkly.
"Forever! We aren't goin anywhere!" Mabel exclaims, pumping her fist in the air.
"Whew, thats a relief." Soos says, wrapping his arm around Melody's waist. "I was scared this was gonna be a short visit."
"Please, Soos. You couldn't pay me to go back there." I say harshly. Mabel seems to recall slightly and makes a horizontal motion with her hand over her neck, gesturing for Soos to quit it. I pretend I didn't see it.
It didn't matter, because everything was going to be fine again. We were back in Gravity Falls, after 2 long years, back where we were always supposed to be and I had no intentions of leaving anytime soon. I had so many theories and at least double the questions and curiosity I had last summer. I had been doing my own research for a while and I think I stood a fairly decent chance at figuring out or unraveling all the strange occurrences in this town, but also all the anomalies in the world. Still, a feeling of anticipation creeps up my spine as I throw my bags down onto my bed.
I can't help but wonder what other mysteries we'll come across. I can hardly wait. I set my journal onto the bedside table and pull my bags to the floor, collapsing onto the bed as I shut the lights. Darkness envelops the room and sleep comes to me quickly. Tomorrow is a new day. A better day…