Something Strange

Talk for Tales

My first official morning was spent emptying the boxes with Kitchen labeling the sides. Of course, the coffee maker was set up first above all else and brewing the bitter elixir. Glassware in the cupboard beside the sink, plates and bowls in the next cupboard over and so on.
Moving the dining table into place then moving it again because the placing didn't look right, following with the four chairs

By lunchtime I had organized my bookshelf; moved the small sofa around the living room three different times, and had placed decorative ornaments on the coffee table.
Before I could get started on my bedroom a knock sounded off the front door.

"I suppose a break could be good." I murmured to myself but nonetheless irked with the disruption.
I opened the door to be greeted by an overstuffed gift basket being held to my face.

"Hi! Again." A familiar chirpy voice greeted from behind the basket.

"Hello?" I returned the greeting a bit confused. The basket was pushed into my arms and I could put a face to the voice.
A grand cheerful smile, rosy cheeks, chocolate colored eyes, and long brunette hair braided over her shoulder.

"Oh," I paused scrambling for a name. "Maple, was it?"

The young woman chuckled, her small form vibrating with excitement. "Mabel, actually." She replied. "I just wanted to give you a proper Gravity Falls welcome, and to see if you'd like any help unpacking."

I forced a smile on my face. "That is a kind thought Mabel, but I am fine by myself."

She slipped past me into my half of the shoddy duplex. Immediately looking around at my meticulously placed possessions.

I took a shuddering breath in hopes to keep myself from freaking out. Shutting the door behind me, I walked through the living room to the kitchenette and set the basket on one of the counters.
"I'm pretty much almost unpacked." I explained turning back to the curious woman that examined my bookshelf. "I don't really need any help."

I heard her hum thoughtfully before she spoke. "'Matters of the Mind', 'Demons of the Diseased', 'Mental Health and where it matters'?" She read from the spines of a few of the books she saw.

"I-I was a psychology major in college." I explained with a shrug. "It sort of helped me through my own issues in the process."

Mabel looked at me with a strange combination of sympathy and humor in her eyes. "You certainly came to a place with problems." She said spinning around on her heels to fully face me. "So, where exactly are you working?"

After her first comment the question through me for a loop. "Ah, uh," I mentally smacked myself for my stammering. "Until school starts up again I'll just be working from home as a therapist." I answered fumbling through my pockets for a business card. "O-otherwise I'll be the new counselor."
I found one of my cards in my wallet and offered it to her.

She took it and looked over the simplistic design with a curious expression. "Y'know," she began slowly. "Dipper an' I, we both probably should have seen a therapist when we were younger." Mabel shrugged tucking the card into the pocket of her skirt. "But we would have been diagnosed with just a bunch of bullshit because no one would believe us."

I raised a curious brow. "How so?" I asked raising a hand to the couch as a silent offer for her to sit. It may be just my personal curiosity but she also seemed bothered by whatever she had yet to say.

She dropped herself on to one of the sofa cushions and I settled into the recliner.

The brunette faced me with a look of frustration and confusion. "Have you noticed anything weird around here yet, Wirt?" She asked.