Things Aren't Always What They Seem (Part 2)
(Back to Ford and Stan moments later…)
The drive from the docks to the Mystery Shack wasn't as long as Ford had imagined it would be. "We could walk to Fids' house from here." He realized out loud.
Grauntie Mabel nodded as she put the car in park. "Just as long as it isn't too dark." She warned as she got out and waved her hand to the shabby, triangle roofed building they stood before. "Welcome to the Mystery Shack!" she announced.
"MYSTERY SHACK" stood in bold, wooden letters on the roof, one word on top of the other. Although one of the letters, the S; had recently fallen to the ground below.
"Dang that S just won't stop fallen." Grauntie Mabel sighed.
Ford took in his surroundings there was a weird totem pole decoration in the front yard, an old pig, who was a good hundred and twenty pounds, lounged on the porch.
"Watch out for Waddles." Grauntie Mabel warned. "He's nice, but he likes to jump on people."
The twins nodded and followed their great aunt into the old house where they were greeted by a small gift shop.
"Hey, Danny!" Grauntie Mabel called with a wave to the boy at the counter.
The boy, who was dressed like a lumber jack, waved back from the front counter. "Afternoon, Ms. Pines."
"Danny these are my nephews Ford, and Stan, they'll be helping us along with Tate's son for the summer." Grauntie Mabel explained. "Boys this is Danny Corduroy; he's been helping me in this shack since he was your age."
"Ah sweet!" Danny said offering them high fives. "You two are life savers man!"
Ford and Stan gave each of his hands a high five.
"Dude six fingered hand, awesome!" Danny told Ford honestly.
Ford smiled, that was now two people who wasn't family that complimented his bizarre birth defect. He was beginning to like this place more and more. And so was Stan, it was nice to see his brother so relaxed for a change; it made him feel relaxed too.
"Any way I know the Shack is closed tomorrow, but I've invited everyone to breakfast in the morning at Greasy's Diner so we can discuss everyone's roll, and pay." Grauntie Mabel explained. "I'd like you to come to, now that the other three are gone you're the senior employee. They will be looking up to you to show the best example. It will also give you a chance to meet Tate's boy."
"No sweat." Danny told her. "I don't mind getting up early for breakfast." He spoke. "What time?"
"8:00." Grauntie Mabel answered.
"All right I'll see you then Ms. Pines." He said placing on a bike helmet.
"Alright you have a good rest of your day now Danny." She said.
"Will do." He answered making his way out the door. "Later little dudes!"
"You were right." Stan said. "He is a nice guy."
"Didn't I tell you?" Grauntie Mabel asked. " Okay now, let's start with a tour of the attractions, shall we?"
Grauntie Mabel showed them through the tourist attractions, where she explained all the exhibits.
"Grauntie Mabel?" Stan asked, looking at a fake duck with a second head sewed on it. "Are these things really real?"
"That's what we tell the tourists, sweetie," she said, walking up to an exhibit covered with a white blanket. "Here's the Mystery Shack's latest attraction!" She pulled off the blanket. "A CENTAUR-TAUR!" It was a strange centaur that had the body of a horse and a head of a horse's body. It fell over after the blanket was removed, but Grauntie Mabel pretended not to notice.
Ford looked very confused, "Um… Grauntie Mabel? Do you have any REAL exhibits? Like of Bigfoot? Or A werewolf maybe?" He asked hoping he'd be able to give Fids some good news tomorrow.
"Ford, sweetie, I really love your suggestions, but you got to learn that tourists are bored of seeing the same-old, same-old," she explained, "which is why I come up with original tourist attractions."
"Oh!" Stan nodded. "That makes sense!"
"But there are real monsters in the town though…right?" Ford asked hopefully.
"Yeah, Fids says his dad use to tell him stories about the weird things of this town." Stan added.
"Oh, that's just rumors." Grauntie Mabel assured them. "Lots of people claim to see all kinds of strange things here, but I can never find any for my shop." She explained. "So, I have to get creative."
"Oh." The boys said in unison, looking a bit disappointed, but Grauntie Mabel didn't seem to notice. "Now let me show you the rest of the house, and where you'll be staying at," She said leading them to the 'Employees Only' door. On the other side was a living room with furniture and a small television set. She showed them the bathroom, the kitchen, the hallway, and her room (Which was over stuffed with sweaters!).
"Finally, Maria prepared your room before you arrived, it's up these stairs here."
Before the twins could ask who, Maria was, a Latina woman in her early twenties came out of one of the rooms in the hallway, "Hi there, chicos," she greeted. "My name is Maria Alzamirano. You can call me Ria if you want."
"Maria is my handy/cleaning lady she doesn't actually work around the tourist, or in the gift shop." Grauntie Mabel explained. "But she will be coming by every Tuesday, and Thursday to clean up the Shack, and fix anything that breaks around here."
"You fix things?" Stan asked Ria.
Grauntie Mabel answered for her. "She fixes things better than any man I've ever seen, and I make sure she's paid well. Ria is like a daughter to me, so be respectful to her. Ria, these are Stan and Ford."
"Thanks Ms. Pines. It's nice to meet both of you." Ria said, blushing slightly. "By the way I replaced the light bulb in the boys' room for you."
"Good now they can actually see!" Grauntie Mabel said. "Speaking of let's get you boys settled in."
The boys nodded and followed her up the stairs, and into…
"An attic?" Ford asked.
"We're sharing an Attic?" Stan asked a little more rudely.
"Stan!" Ford warned.
"Sorry boys, but this old shacks only got one bedroom, and one bathroom, this here attic is the only other empty room I have." Grauntie Mabel explained.
"It's okay Grauntie Mabel." Ford said. "We don't mind. Do we, Stan?!" he asked his brother giving him his famous warning look for the second time that day.
"No, it's fine." Stan admitted. "I was just not expecting it is all!"
"Good!" Grauntie Mabel said looking relieved. "Now you boys start unpacking and I'll call you down when the sandwiches and cookies are ready."
"Okay." The Stan twins said as one.
Grauntie Mabel nodded, and walked back down stairs.
"Seriously Stan you've got to learn to be more sensitive sometimes." Ford warned.
"Sorry." Stan said as he pulled out some of his video game posters from one of his bags, and began taping them to the wall. "Sometimes my mouth runs ahead of my brain."
"Sometimes?" Ford asked as he unpacked some books, and placed them on a dusty old, and rotting book shelf. "More like all the time."
"Hey Ford check it out!" Stan said showing off his hands. "Splinters!"
Ford took in his twin's splintered filled hands and shook his head; it would appear his brother would never learn.
It took them about an hour to unpack completely, and about another thirty minutes after that for Grauntie Mabel to call them down for dinner.
The boys race down the stairs and took their seats at the table, as Grauntie Mabel set the food at the table. Each plate had two halves of a sandwich, and two cookies.
The cookies, Ford noticed, glinted a rainbow of colors in the light. Some cookies sparkled blue while others sparkled pink or red or purple. A few glinted green and another was silver. The cookies themselves were plain, however the sparkles did not look like sprinkles.
And the bread of the sandwiches were oddly enough tie-dyed!
Stan doesn't seem to notice this and takes a big bite out of a cookie, only to nearly spit it back out in disgust. Thankfully for a rare moment Stan remembers his manners and forces himself to swallow.
"Uh, Grauntie Mabel?" Ford prompted.
"Yeah, Ford?" Grauntie Mabel sat down between him and Stan.
"Do those cookies have glitter in them?" He asked picking one up to look at it more closely.
Grauntie Mabel gave him a teasing smile. "Yep, I add a little bit of art to all my food?" she said. "Now who wants milk?" before they could answer she got up from the table to go get it.
"Ford is glitter edible?" Stan asked fearfully.
"No." Ford answered. "And neither is any other art supplies."
"Well, I still got a bag of chips in my bag." Stan said. "What do you get?"
"I still got some peppermints from the bus stop back in Jersey." Ford answered.
"Think we can make that last all summer?" Stan asked hopefully.
"Not a chance." Ford answered.
"Maybe we should start eating at Fids' place then." Stan replied. "I mean at least fish, and possums are actual food."
Just then Grauntie Mabel returned with the milk, which thankfully looked normal.
"Well dig in kids!" Grauntie Mabel encouraged them.
Out of politeness, and hunger, the twins ate the food provided. Stan, being the braver of the two twins, took a third cookie after his first two. This one had green-sparkles. Although his enthusiasm toward the cookie changed after he got a dry throat and coughed up half a handful of glitter.
Not good.
At least the milk was normal, the boys used it to wash down the cookies, and the sandwiches, which the boys hoped had been colored with food coloring, and not actual dye!
Thankfully, they were excused to their room afterwards for bed. Both boys were extremely tired after the long bus ride.
San flopped on his bed, and yawn loudly.
Ford went to copy this action himself when he noticed that in his absence the pig had invaded his space for himself. It oinked at his approach. His snout twitched his shirt as he sniffed him. "And there's a pig on my bed," Ford stated in disbelieve.
Stan snickered.
Ford nudged the pig off his bed, and the old swine complied, allowing Ford to flop down on his mattress.
"Man, what are we going to tell Fids tomorrow?" Stan asked out loud. "He was so looking forward to this Shack being his proof that his dad isn't completely nutty."
"Just because Grauntie Mabel hasn't seen anything doesn't mean we won't find proof." Ford assured him. "She said lots of people have seen things, not just Mr. McGucket." He explained. "If we look hard enough, we're bound to run into something!"
"I hope so." Stan admitted. "
Otherwise, the only exciting thing we'll get out of this vacation is getting our stomach pumped from eating all this weird food."
"Tell me about it." Ford agreed.
"Well good night bro." Stan said rolling over.
"Night." Ford said as he looked out the attic window. 'We'll find you proof.' He vowed to himself.
And with that final promise Ford fell into a deep sleep.
(The Next Morning…)
Morning…
For some reason Ford thought waking up in a new place would be different.
He couldn't have been more wrong!
"Ford!"
Ford jumps awake in his sleep, almost ten feet into the air. "What did you see one? Did you see a monster?" He exclaimed.
"No, I just got bored of you sleeping." Stan laughed.
Ford's face grew red with anger and embarrassment. "Stanley, you do this to me all the time at home!" He yelled. "Can't you give me a break here?"
"Nope." Stan laughed. "Besides if you'd go to sleep at a reasonable time, you'd wake up early like me, but no you stay up all night reading!"
"At least I read!" Ford argued as he moved to get dress. "Honestly you know how grumpy I am in the morning."
"You'd think it would stop scaring you senseless by now." Stan laughed, as he pulled on his shoes. He of course was already wide awake and ready to go have breakfast with Danny and Fids.
Speaking of Fids.
"What are we gonna tell him Stanley?" Ford asked. "He'll be crushed."
"Maybe, but it doesn't mean there's nothing out there." Stan assured him. "It just means we'll actually have to do the work ourselves. But hey, on the bright side we're bound to find something in the woods."
Ford smiled. "Okay but we're not looking for treasure so don't even bother bringing a shovel." He warned.
"Oh, come on!" Stan argued. "All those woods there's bound to be some treasure!"
"We are not looking for treasure, we're looking for monsters." Ford corrected him as he finished getting dressed and pulled on his own shoes.
"And what if the monster has a treasure chest in its mouth." Stan challenged.
"Well, if you're brave enough to pry it away from him then you deserve it." Ford told him.
"Yes!" Stan exclaimed.
"Boys are you up and ready yet?" Grauntie Mabel asked as she stepped in the room.
"Yep!" Stan said.
"Good then let's get a move on. I'm sure Tate and the others are already there." Grauntie Mabel said ushering them down the stairs.
The boys raced outside to the car where Grauntie Mabel soon drove them to a place called Greasy's Diner.
It was a small place with a classic diner theme, with records on the wall.
"Hey there they are!" Danny said pointing their way.
Grauntie Mabel smiled as the approached the table.
"It's about time Ms. Pines." Danny said. "I had to send Crazy Chiu away twice now."
Who's Crazy Chiu?" Stan asked as they sat down.
Suddenly he got his answer.
"Hello, welcome to Greasy's Diner." An elderly Japanese woman appeared out of nowhere.
"AH!" Stan screamed; she was practically inches from his face.
"I Am Candy Chiu Are you ready to order now?" the woman asked.
"Just make us a large stack of pancakes." Grauntie Mabel told her.
The woman nodded, and in a blink of an eye she was gone!
"That is Crazy Chiu." Danny said. "She's like a creepy ninja lady."
"Danny." Grauntie Mabel warned. "Mrs. Chiu is not crazy, she's just confused. We old people do get things mixed up every now and then."
"Wait what is she confused about?" Fids asked.
"Oh well Ms. Chiu thinks some one-eyed beast is coming to take over the world someday." Tate said all scary like.
"Really?" San asked.
"Yeah, she's always going on about it!" Danny said.
Suddenly Crazy Chiu reappears with a stack of pancakes in her hands and says. "When gravity falls and earth becomes sky; fear the beast with just one eye."
Stan screams again at her sudden appearance. "Geesh lady are you trying to scare me to death!" He yelled.
"Sorry love." Crazy Chiu bowed. "Your pancakes."
Ford took the plate, still trembling at her words. "Have you seen this beast?" He asked.
Crazy Chiu nodded. "He has opened my eyes to our fate. He wants to destroy all we hold dear."
More chills ran down his spine.
And suddenly with another blink of their eyes she is gone again!
"How does she do that?" Stan asked.
"No one knows." Danny answered. "Anyways Ms. Pines how will we be running the shop?" He asked, desperate to change the subject.
"Well, you're staying on cash register duty." Grauntie Mabel said. "Ford you and Stanley will be in charge of keeping the shelves tidy and well stocked."
"What about me Ms. Pines." Fids asked.
"You'll be helping Ria lessen her load." Grauntie Mabel answered. "Your father tells me you're quite the fixer upper."
"He sure is." Tate answered. "My boy made his own laptop by hand."
Fids blushed. "It wasn't so hard." He admitted. "I can also fix cars, and other machines."
"Good take this." Grauntie Mabel hands him a dark green shirt with a question mark on it, she also handed him a name tag. "It's your work uniform, be sure to wear it every day with your name tag. Customers like to know who they are talking to."
"Do we get uniforms?" Stan asked.
"I make all my employees' uniforms." Grauntie Mabel said. "Each one is unique and no two are alike."
"This one is mine." Danny said pulling out his phone and showing him a picture of him in his uniform which was just a flannel shirt with an Axe on the front.
Fids looked down at his shirt as if seeing it for the first time. "So, this is the only one like this?" Ford asked.
Grauntie Mabel nodded. "Yep, because all my employees are one of a kind." She said pulling out two more shirts. "Now Stan this one is yours."
Stan held it up to get a better look, it was a reddish-pink t-shirt with a yellow crescent shaped symbol in the middle. "Cool."
"And finally, Ford sweetie I know you are very sensitive about your hands, but I think they are one of a kind, just like you so…" She handed Ford his shirt.
Ford smiled; it was a gray shirt with a gold six figured hand in the center.
"Do you like it?" Grauntie Mabel asked, looking worried.
"I love it." Ford said pulling it on. "Thanks, Grauntie Mabel."
"Yeah, these are great!" Stan said, pulling his on too.
Fids also put his own shirt on and smiled.
"Now that uniforms are done." Grauntie Mabel went on. "Pay for you three is five bucks an hour." She said to her three new employees. "Now Danny gets a little more because his mother and sisters really depend on his income. So, no complaining!"
"We understand." Stan said, surprising his brother. "After all family is family."
Ford's smile grew, Stan might be a little greedy, but when it came to his family, the gloves were off. It was the most important thing to him.
"Alright does everyone understand their job?" Grauntie Mabel asked.
Everyone nodded.
"Then let's dig in before the food gets cold!" Grauntie Mabel declared.
Everyone dug into their pancakes hungrily smacking their lips as they did so, because well she may be crazy but Chiu was a really good cook.
"So, how's the shack?" Fids asked in a low whisper so his father couldn't hear. "Any good proof?"
Ford bit his lip, but Stan wasn't as conservative. "Nope, Grauntie Mabel says she has none of the real stuff."
Fids bowed his head.
"But she did say other people around town have seen stuff." Ford added giving his brother his famous look. "I mean look at Crazy Chiu she saw a one-eyed beast."
"Who wants to destroy us all?" Stan added.
"Yeah, let's try not to run into that one." Ford said.
"You mean if he's even real." Stan added.
"I don't know if he is." Ford said. "I just got a creepy feeling about him, whoever he is."
"Me too." Stan admitted.
"So, you really want to help me find proof?" Fids asked.
The twins nodded.
"But what if we don't find anything?" Fids asked really quietly. "What if my mom is right? What id dad and Crazy Chiu are just you know…crazy?"
"They're not crazy." Ford said with more determination than ever before. "And we are going to prove it!"
-To Be Continued