22 Short Stories from Gravity Falls

Story 20: The Night Before

Summary: When Grunkle Stan receives a phone call one early summer's evening, it sets in motion the start of a summer that would change his life in many ways for the better.

It was a late May evening in Gravity Falls Oregon. All was quiet in the Mystery Shack. The tourist trap that normally was hustling and bustling in the daytime was now all but a quiet little shack in the woods. Stan Pines walked into the living room, a coffee in his hands. He turned on his old Worrel TV and sat down to watch whatever was on.

With long time employee Soos and recently hired cashier Wendy gone for the night, the only sound that was heard now was that of the TV and the creaking of wooden planks within the over quarter of a century old structure.

A good hour rolled by as Stan sat on his couch, on the brink of falling asleep. He contemplated whether to call it a night or to go down to the basement and tinker with the portal. But soon, the sound of his thoughts was replaced with another one...the phone.

"Oh great!" he yelled, "Who on Earth could that be at this late hour?!"

He walked up to the phone with theories as to who it could be racing by. Was it a tour group asking to visit tomorrow? The government asking him about his tax records? And while it was at the back of his mind, the possibility of it being a family related call was there too. He picked up the phone.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hi Stanford," said a familiar voice.

Stan recognized it anywhere, "Oh...uh, hello." It was Shermy Pines' son's wife. "How...how's it going?"

"It's going good," she said, "How about yourself?"

"Oh, uh...I'm fine. Yeah, what with running a tourist attraction and all. You'd be amazed with how much traffic I'm expecting to get, now with summer finally here."

She laughed, "Oh, I bet. I mean, summer isn't all fun and games when you're a mom either."

The two of them laughed. There was a long pause before she spoke again, "Stanford, I need to ask you something?"

"Oh, is everything okay?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, everything's fine. It's just...it's about the kids."

"Oh yeah, Dylan and...Rowena!"

"Dipper and Mabel."

Stan face palmed, "Eh, I'll get their names soon enough. So, what about them?"

She sighed, "Well, I'm a bit worried about them. Dipper and Mabel are now home for the summer. And that of course means Dipper's gonna be on his video game consoles all day and night, and Mabel's either gonna be all alone in their room with the cat, watching TV, or hanging out with her friends. But they're all gone vacation this year and well...we're a little tight on money this year, what with Mabel getting braces and all."

"I see. They wanted to travel but you can't afford it this year."

"Well, it's not just that, Stan. I want the kids to bond more. They used to be unbelievably close...and they still are. But I worry they're fracturing and while I want them to be independent and their own people, I also don't want them to drift apart."

A chill ran down Stan's spine as he heard that. He knew far, far to well what it felt like to lose a twin. He may have only seen Dipper and Mabel once when they were born and once on New Years night many years ago, but he hoped from the day they were born that they wouldn't suffer in the same way he did.

"So, what do you want my help with?" he asked.

"Well...I know it's on short notice, but...but I was wondering if the kids can stay with you for the summer. I mean, it's not a trip to Hawaii or anything, but it's better than them being stuck in home all summer. It'll also help me out a lot cause then I don't have to worry about finding a babysitter to look after them given ours is on vacation too. Despite the twins saying they don't need one."