Stanley asked for help 24: Ma and Pa Duskerton
Tuesday afternoon (day 14)
You would think watching Filbrick getting beaten up would get boring after the first hour, but nope. Stan and Caryn were as entertained by the 10th hour as they were by the first.
After dropping him off with Handwitch to do it all over again in the crawlspace overnight before kicking him out of the valley, the two went home with their cut in tow.
"Ha! Getting paid to watch someone I don't like being beaten up? I've got to figure out how to do this again. Maybe when we get Ford back, we can redo this."
Caryn glared at him.
"Stanley Filbrick Pines! If you think you are going to have your brother beaten up after you save him, you have another thing coming."
The two then froze when they realized what Stan's middle name was.
"I'm going to have that changed tomorrow."
"Yes, how about to Mystery? That way, you can say things like "Mystery is my middle name" and have it be true."
Stan shrugged as the two got into view of the Shack and…
Stopped and stared at the small stand in front of it.
The building was about the size of the little bit of the Shack sticking out of its side, looking like someone had just cloned that portion and placed it on its own in the front yard. The roof overhung enough to give cover to those standing in front or behind it.
Under said overhanging roof, there was a glass window with a small metal counter in front. Where the window and counter would meet was a series of metal flaps. The window was shaded, with a privacy film designed to look like a cartoon version of Alex in his base form, a Manotaur, a unicorn, a gnome, and Stanley himself all eating at a picnic table.
"What that?"
"SURPRISE!"
The little flaps under the window opened as Alex's hand exited to wave at them.
"Alex? How did you get this made so quickly?"
"Simple. Handwitch does a morning reading for anything big that is about to happen. Today's reading said the entire town would be distracted at the park and you would benefit from being there. When Anna mentioned tar and feathering Filbrick, I put two and two together. So I called up my mole men friends and a few Manotaurs willing to help in exchange for some jerky, and they got this whipped up."
Caryn looked at the small building wide-eyed before walking up to the menu.
"This is just the little bags of snacks, pieces of candy, and drinks you get from gas stations and convenience stores! Who would buy it here instead of picking it up at the Duck-to-Dawn at half the price?"
A monkey's hand, a tiger paw, and an octopus's tentacle all emerged from the slits holding bottles of water at the same time. When he spoke next, his voice sounded like about a dozen different people talking simultaneously.
"cAN THE dUSK TOdAWN DO THIS?"
Stan was grinning like a loon at the spectacle.
"Now that is how you draw in the crowds. We have got to workshop a story about this." He then frowned a little bit. "Two questions though. How did you get in there from the Shack, and what else is inside the Snack Shack right now?"
"When they connected the Snack Shack to the Mystery Shack's water and power, they slipped a small tunnel for me to run through as a squirrel. If they wanted to keep the ground stable and prevent cave-ins, that was the best they could do.
"As for the inside, we only have several boxes of snacks, a small handwashing station, and a refrigerator from the dump that still works."
Stan smiled and shot the Snack Shak a thumbs up. "Sounds great! When we get the funds, we can look into upgrading the snack selection to include hot dogs, warm pretzels, and maybe even a soda machine so people could mix and match the drinks!"
He and Caryn then walked into the Shack, and after closing the door, a floorboard popped up to allow a squirrel to climb inside and shift into Alex. He then picked up some documents which were laid on a nearby table and gave them to Stan.
"Here are some forged papers saying it was built by some construction workers you know that wanted a crack at Filbrick. While they were waiting to drag him out of the valley, they built this at a discount."
Stan looked over the documents while Caryn smiled at him.
"Thanks, Alex! Though how did you pay them? I doubt the, what did you call them? Manotaurs? I doubt they would only take jerky as payment. And what about the mole men?"
Stan rolled his eyes. "Those Manotaurs are nuts about jerky. Though she is right about the molemen. How did you pay them?"
Alex then shifted into a sheep before continuing.
"Well, I may have promised to give $1000 to each of the three molemen that helped with this."
Stan looked at him before laughing his head off.
"THAT'S IT? Alex, I bet you anything we'll make that back as soon as they get it. I already have something in the works with the casino that will support that perfectly."
Stan then laid a hand on Alex's woolly shoulder.
"Thank you, Alex. I really appreciate this and all the hard work you put into it.
"Now, we should look into a better way of getting stock beyond buying bundles from big box stores."
Wednesday afternoon (day 15)
Stanley walked into the Dusk to Dawn store and headed right to the register. The store didn't have anyone else in here at the moment, so there was no line as he went up to Ma Duskerton.
"Hi, Ma. Are you free to talk now?"
Ma smiled at him and waved over Pa.
"Sure am Mr. Pines. What can we do for you?"
Stan flashed them a smile. "I just wanted to give you a heads up. After my Pa showed up-"
The elderly couple in front of him scowled with unbridled hatred for a second before returning to their gentle smiles.
"-I called a few burly construction workers I know to help take care of him. Though they showed up right when you started the Trial by Pinata, so they decided to wait their turn."
He then pulled out a sketch of the Snack Shack to show them. "They found some blueprints and sketches I had whipped up for a small building to sell snacks separate from the main house. While I was busy in town, they decided to surprise me by building it there and getting everything set up."
Pa reached out, took the sketch from him, and stared at it in shock.
"They built this in one day? Those are some good contractors."
Stan chuckled. "You don't know the half of it. Anyway, the theme of it is that there is a baby Lovecraftian creature inside who's selling the food. The windows are all one-way, so you can't see in, but you can hear a legion of voices talking in synch and limbs used to take money and hand you the food belonging to dozens of animals. We have tentacles, paws, hooves, talons, and more."
Both of the store owners 'ohed' at the idea.
"That sounds interesting, I might have to go check it out."
Stan shrugged. "Thanks. I mainly wanted to come by for two things. First, I want to let you know that I plan on selling many of the same things you sell here. I plan to do a markup with the extra entertainment with the selling, so hopefully it won't impact your business too much."
Pa and Ma just chuckled at that. "Don't worry about that sonney. We have been coexisting with the Northwest Gas Station for decades without issue."
"Yes, especially when you consider that our two properties are on opposite sides of the town and the gas station is as close to the only way into and out of the valley as you can be while still staying within the town limits. There is more than enough business around for us all to coexist."
Stan sighed in relief. "Thanks, but please let me know if your business is negatively impacted. Do you think I should also talk to the gas station?"
Ma and Pa shook their heads.
"Don't worry about that. It's the only gas station in town and also by the entrance to the Valley. They primarly cater to people filling up their car and passers-by. One more convience store won't impact them that much."
Stan accepted that and continued.
"The other thing I wanted to talk to you about is about where you get your stock. With a building dedicated to snacks, I will be increase how much I can sell. Buying from big box stores at that volume doesn't seem practical."
Pa held up a single figure before heading to the back office. Ma flashed Stan a smile as Pa left.
"That is perfectly fine Mr. Pines. I know a few distributors you can talk to about this. What kind of things are you planning on selling?"
Stan pulled out a small list and handed it over. "The Snack Shack is currently only set up with a handwashing station and refrigerator. I was thinking of selling bags of chips, candy, cold drinks, and maybe ice cream bars in the freezer."
Ma looked at it and nodded at him.
"Sounds like a good menu for a beginner, and another reason me and Pa aren't worried about you stealing our business. Your stand probably won't have the room for the variety of brands we do, and we also sell lots of things that aren't on your list."
She then pointed at the hot dog and slushie machines as examples.
"Though if we decide to replace either of those, you're welcome to the old ones if there still operational."
"Really?"
Ma shrugged. "I have no idea when or if we would do that in a situation where they could still be usable, but in that highly unlikely event, they're yours."
Stan deflated at that, but he was still touched by the offer.
"GOT IT!"
Pa walked back holding a binder labeled "vendors" and plopped it down on the counter. It was a large, red binder with multiple dividers labeled "chips," "candy," and more.
"Now, what are you looking for?"
Ma handed him the list, which led to Stan nodding and opening the binder.
The next thirty minutes involved Stan and Pa talking about each of the vendors and their selections, the prices, delivery times, and other things a small convenience store owner needed to know.
After the first five, they moved to a table to have a better workspace for Stan's note-taking and Pa to sit while explaining it. In the end, Stan had narrowed it down to a handful he would call up and see how soon they could stock him.
However, one vendor was at the top of the discard pile.
"Are you sure you don't want to use NorthBest snacks? We don't use them much, but they are perfect for rush orders due to them having a factory within half a day's dive from here. Being so close also means they are cheaper than other brands that need to factor in longer travel times."
Stan shot Pa a stony look.
"I am sure! I have already paid them more money than they deserve with the mortgage and the utility bills. I will not be paying them a single penny more than I have to.
Pa sighed. "Ok, but be careful. They own almost everything in town one way or another. If you make too big an enemy of them, you will lose everything."
Stan shot him a predatory look.
"Don't worry, I don't have any intention of trying to burn their mansion to the ground or bankrupt them. I just don't plan to spend money in a way that benefits them."
Stan then picked up his notes, shook Pa's hand and went back to the Shack to start placing orders.
The stock he currently had from the big box store would hopefully hold long enough for him to get his first delivery. Add in his ordering in bulk and storing the excess in the massive lab, and he would be fine.
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I have decided to cap this series at 29 chapters, that way it will end with the year. I am not 100% happy with the in universe pasing and how I have been jumping from one idea to the next with no break, so when I do this again, I plan on setting up a timeline and outline from the start before writing my first chapter.
I have them all written up, and the final chapter is over 6k words.
I have a if you want to support me and my New Year's resolution of posting one fanfic of 2k words or more weekly. This is also being posted on , AO3, and Tumbler.
Remove all the spaces from the URLs to get them to work.
: : / / w w w . user?u=10132890
. c o m : : / / w w w . s/14051718/1/luz–appreciation–week–2022–from–1228248
AO3: : / / works/52823413/chapters/133608991
Tumbler: : / / w w w . blog/brianedner
I am also doing fanfic info dumps, like wiki articles that go one episode at a time, with some compilations at the end on specific topics sorted by episode.
Fanfic info dumps here: : / / w w w . 1228248/gallery