Gravity Falls: Summer at Aunt Mabel's

Gravity Falls: SUMMER AT AUNT MABEL'S

by Dangercide

 

Dipper knocked on the trailer door, rattling it against its uneven frame. "Knock knock...Mabel?"

 

He could hear the trailer floor shake as she approached the door it had less to do with her ample frame and more to do with how horribly old the trailer was. "Dipper, you're here!" She almost acted surprised even though she'd invited him and he said yes.

 

"Hey...you," Dipper hugged her tight. Mabel was wearing a pink mu-mu, the sweatpants of upper-body wear, but she had had the decency to put on a bra beneath. Otherwise it would have been like seeing his obese sister in a sheer sarong. The coke-bottle frames she'd worn since high school magnified her pupils several times giving off an otherworldly alien look.

 

"Come in, come in! I just redecorated!" Mabel led him into the depths of her trailer, which had been stacked to the ceiling with shelves of ceramic figurines, most of them fairies, or as she liked to call them Faeries. What wasn't covered in knick-knacks or old junkmail was instead covered in numerous cats.

 

"What...what exactly changed it looks exactly the same," Dipper had talked with her a few months ago about toning down her love of cats. The neighbors had started to complain.

 

"Geeze, louise! Can't you tell? The Faeries with wings are on the northside and the Faeries with little mushroom hats are on the southside! They're having a feud," she prodded him with a wink and a smile. "Sit down, sit down! Let's rap, bro," Dipper walked over to the beanbag and plopped down on it. It shifted beneath him and gave off an angry grunt.

 

"Oh, sorry Waddles," said Dipper. Waddles grunted in reply. "Mabel, aren't you afraid all these cats are going to...you know..."

 

"What? Eat Waddles? Pffft. They wouldn't do that! They're my babies!" Mabel picked up and cuddled a cat that immediately jumped out of her arms.

 

"I thought the fairies were your babies," Dipper finally found the real beanbag chair and sat down.

 

"Those are my other, babies. And Waddles is my Little Man! Isn't that right Waddles?" Mabel preened down at the nearly comatose Waddles who oinked in reply. "But I'm not stupid, Dipper. They're still animals, and that horrible day when Waddles passes I expect his brothers and sisters to consume him completely...the cats not the fairies."

 

Dipper didn't have time for this, "Listen, there was a reason I came down here today." Mabel sat forward and rested her chin in her puffy hand. "The thing is, sis...Wendy is a little concerned...about Tyronia's summer visit."

 

"Alright! Gosh! I'll put all the cats outside!"

 

"It's not just that..." although that was a very big part of it.

 

"She'll be sleeping in Waddles room! He doesn't even use it anymore so it's clean and everything!"

 

"That's not it either, listen..." that was actually the second biggest issue that came up when Dipper and Wendy fought earlier. "We talked it over, and...we don't think you should...you know...go mystery solving with Tyronia."

 

"But that's totally our thing! She loved it last year!"

 

"It doesn't matter if she loves it or not! You're just..." he didn't know how to put this gently, "a little unstable when it comes to mystery solving."

 

"Nuh-uh!"

 

"Yes. Yes you are, Mabel. She's a little girl, and you're a really big influence on her life, and we're just not sure if you're the best influence she can have."

 

Mabel frowned. He couldn't tell if tears were welling up in her eyes because of the glasses or not. "You changed, bro. You used to be all about the mystery solving."

 

"That summer was like, thirteen years ago! And the things you're solving aren't exactly mysteries Mabel," he sighed. "I mean, you attacked that old man over the summer-"

 

"He was a mole-man from the center of the earth!"

 

"He was a little old man from Guatamala. And then there was the...lizard people incident..." Dipper pinched his nose-bone and shook his head.

 

"Hey, that was all Tyronia's deal! She was the one who caught it!"

 

"It was a man with acne, Mabel and you're supposed to be a good role model! And  by the way, I'm still paying off those court fees!"

 

"I told you I'd pay you back when my newsletter gets off the ground!" The cats, sensing that their master was angry began to leave the room and watched nervously from the doorways.

 

"Nobody wants to read about your stupid fairy newsletter!"

 

Mabel audibly gasped, her chins waggled in fury "I'll have you know I have twelve people signed up once it starts!"

 

"Oh yeah, cause twelve people are going to get the collection agency off my back!"

 

"THE BEST ADVERTISEMENTS ARE SPREAD BY WORD OF MOUTH, DIPPER!"

 

Dipper tried to stand up angrily but struggled because of the low beanbag chair. "Listen! I don't care that you can't pay me back! I don't care that you have so many cats! I don't care, about..." he waved his arms around, "all this! I need you to promise me that you'll make this a normal, safe, legal summer for my little girl! Or else...or else I'm not sure she should be around you anymore."

 

His sister began to choke back tears, "But...but I didn't...I just...I just remembered all those good times we had when we were little kids...and we...I don't have good times anymore, Dipper. But when I'm around Little T...it's...it's like I'm back at the Mystery Shack fighting off gnomes...and making memories that are worth remembering..." she trailed off.

 

Dipper walked over and hugged her for a good long while. "Nothing's changed between you and me, alright. But Tyronia is my little girl, and I need to know that she's going to be alright."

 

Mabel wiped the tears from her eyes and sniffed. "I'll turn things around, Dipping Sauce. I promise. No more shenanigans."

 

"Good," he smiled. "We'll be by on Tuesday."

 

As he left the shack Mabel looked over at Waddles who had somehow managed to flip himself over. "Just you wait, Waddles. This is going to be the best summer ever."