Prologue

Mabel's POW:

My tummy grumbled and I stumbled into the kitchen. Light streamed through the window, and the air smelled like pine trees. I open the wood cabinet, careful not to get any splinters, and I reach out to grab the box of Overly Sensitive Owl cereal for breakfast. But my hand only touches the rough wood of the cabinet.

"WHAT! No cereal!" I cry in despair, quickly covering my mouth, expecting to hear Grunkle Stan shushing me. But my call doesn't have any response. Strange, there is usually somebody down here. Now that I think about it, the shack is eerily quiet. I check the clock above the fridge. One thirty! Why am I even up? Well, It's not like I can go back to sleep, so I turn on the T.V. A commercial comes on.

"Are you tired of your pencils breaking?" A voice asks.

"YES!" A group of students cry.

"I'm Bobby Renzoni, and what you need to get is the GIANT PENCIL!" A guy with a mustache appears on the screen and shouts.

Wow, Wow, Wait, back up, I think to myself. WHY would they be selling a pencil? It's the summer, for Pete's sake! It's not like anyone would be buying school supplies just yet. Well, Bobby Renzoni is famous for selling useless stuff. I decide to forget about it. The next commercial comes on.

"Hiya, kids!" An announcer says. "You know what time it is...it's almost time for school!" A group of kids cheer. "So come on down to the School Barn to buy all those necessities! And remember - always stock up before school starts!"

Wait, what? Another school add...but it can't be..I glance at the calendar. Today's August 20th...school starts in 10 days! Poop heck darn! And on the 25th, it says..KIDS GO BACK HOME?! Double poop heck darn!

I know most kids don't like going home after summer, but for us it's different, and I...I don't know what to do. I need to hide this news...fast. I take a deep breath and try and form a plan. There is one thing I know for sure - I can't let Dipper know that we're going home. I don't know what would happen if Stan found out our secret. You can't hide it forever...A voice in my head says.

Dipper's POW:

I'm in a room. A room filled with wine. A monster looms over me. He drinks from a bottle. Then He laughs and laughs. "Ma..b..el...Mabel..MABEL.." I whisper. The monster lunges at me. I become more frantic. "MABEL, MABEL, MABEL," I say anxiously. "Pathetic." The monster says. He gestures with his hand and the wine bottles start to fall on top of me. "MABEL!" I scream. "HELP!" I start to run, but my legs are stuck in some sort of molasses. "Dipper, wake up," The monster says. I frantically open and close my eyes. I'm so confused. I now know this is a dream, so why am I not waking up? I open and close my eyes some more, and, finally, the dream starts to fade away, starting with the bottles of wine. But, unlike most dreams, just before the monster says something just before he disappears. I can barley make out the words, but I think he said "Pathetic." After, he starts screaming.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I wake up, but the monster's screaming isn't gone. I become panicked, until I realize I'm the one screaming. I look up, expecting Mabel, but it's Wendy that's looming over me. That only makes me scream more.

"Hey, dude, you good?" She looks at me with a smile. "You've been sleeping a long time, even by my standards. It's, like, 12 in the afternoon, man."

It was just a dream, I tell myself. "I'm good..Wendy," I say to her. I look up at her. Suddenly I'm embarrassed. "How..much of...that..did you see?" I sound ridiculous. Stupid squeaky puberty voice.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see her stifle a laugh at my voice that she cleverly hides as a cough.

"Oh, just the part where you were thrashing around and yelling for Mabel," She says cooly and smiles at me.

"Oh, man," I whisper and put my head in my hands. Why did I have to be so...awkward? And sweaty and wimpy? Like, all the time? I'm on the verge of tears.

Seeing this, she gives me a small punch on the arm. "Sure your good?" She asks.

I don't answer her. I glance at Mabel's bed. Suddenly, I realize that my twin is gone. "Where's Mabel?" I ask. "And why are you here instead of her?"

"Oh, that?" She asks. "We ran out of cereal - Mabel and Stan were getting some. They left me in charge. I was just running the shack and I heard you scream from upstairs. I came running as soon as I could. Seems to me like you were having a nightmare."

"Well, what do you want to do now?" I ask her halfheartedly. I slept in my clothes, so I don't have to change.

"I don't know - something epic," she says. "I mean, you only have 5 days in town left, right?"

"Wait, what?" I asked. Why would we only have 5 days left? Summer wasn't over..oh no. It was the 20th - our flight home to Piedmont departed in 4 days! Only 4 days left in Gravity Falls? I had to leave.. I had to...but I couln't ...face dad. Not after...OH NO. I felt the panic attack coming on. The dream plus this news..I had not had one since we came to live with Grunkle Stan...OH!NO! I couldn't let Wendy learn about this! I had hidden it from her all Summer..why now. Breathe, breathe, I tell myself. But I am past that point. I can feel it. I am the Titanic, and I had hit an iceberg - there is no going back now. The only thing I can do is find Mabel. By now, she is the only thing that can calm me down.

"Find Mabel?" I ask Wendy. I grab on to her hand. I can barley talk. I'm in a full blown attack now. What will Wendy think of me now? Any shot I ever had with her is gone. I hyperventilate more and more. Was Wendy's head always that big? Why is the world spinning? Wendy? Leave? Mabel? Questions fill my head. I can't think straight anymore. I'm dying, Wendy, love, MABEL, MABEL! I can't breathe! Air! Need air! AIR! Higher ground! Yes! I grab Wendy's shoulder. Can I breathe now? Mabel? My mind is fuzzy.

"Breathe Mabel?" I ask before the world slips away.

Wendy's POW:

Ugh. I'm so bored right now! Mabel's at the store with Stan, Soos is fixing something, and Dipper is in his room...why is life so pathetic! I roll my eyes at nobody in particular and turn back to my latest issue of Avoiding Eye Contact Monthly, but I've already read through the whole thing when Stan was telling me about one of his old man dreams again. Seriously, I think Soos is the only one that listens to those! I turn back to my magazine.

"Mabel...Mabel," an unknown voice says. A ghost? It's coming from upstairs. Something's haunting the twin's room! I grab the nearest weapon, in this case, a chair, and slowly make my way up the stairs.

"MABEL, MABEL!" The voice is becoming more frantic. I raise my chair. "MABEL!" It screams and it's voice cracks. Wait a second..ghost's voices don't crack, but Dipper's does! Relieved, I put the chair down and walk into the twin's bedroom. Dipper is thrashing around on his bed, and screaming Mabel's name over and over. My "sister instincts" take over and I try and shake him awake. This only makes his "Mabel's" turn into screams.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Dipper sits up in his bed.

"Hey, dude, you good?" I ask him. His cheeks are flushed and he's sweating - a lot.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" This only makes him scream more.

When I finally get the little dude to calm down, he starts interrogating me. I just try and get him to simmer down a bit. He's pretty on edge today. Unsurprisingly, his voice cracks again, and he gets super embarrassed. I stifle a little giggle - not that I think his voice funny, it's just that Dipper is super cute. In a "baby and ducking kinda cute" way. He always tries to act like a man around me, but I kind of like it when his true self peaks out - the soft side that he reserves for Mabel and Stan. I know he's trying to impress me, but in my eyes, he has nothing to prove. I do love him - like a little brother.

I slip back into reality, and answer his question about how much I've seen. His cheeks turn bright pink, and he tries to hide a tear leaking out from the corner of his eye. I suddenly feel an urge to hug him, but that would be super weird, so I give him a light punch on the arm and we continue with the conversation. I only catch half of it.

"What do you want to do now?" He asks me.

"I don't know - something epic," I respond. "I mean, you only have 5 days left in town, right?" I ask.

"What do you mean?" He asks. He's silent for a while, lost in thought. It finally hits him. Suddenly, Dipper's whole body goes stiff.

"Woah, Dipper, you okay, man?" I ask, but I don't think he heard me. I'm super scared now. He grabs my arm super hard. I don't think he even realizes how hard he's gripping. I whimper in pain, but I have more pressing matters to deal with right now.

"Find..Mabel.." He says weakly.

"I already told you, she's at the store, Dipper!" But my comment falls on deaf ears.

Dipper's breathing becomes rapid and his throat is parched. He tries to tell me something, but it comes out as a squeak. I think his neck is closing up. If possible, his grip on my arm becomes tighter. He can't even breathe anymore, it comes out in short little hiccups. His face is becoming red and his whole body is shaking and twitching haphazardly. I need to find Mabel, Stan..WHOEVER CAN CALM HIM DOWN! No. Take a deep breath, Wendy, I tell myself. Dipper has enough panic for both of us. Me panicking won't accomplish anything.

Suddenly, Dipper lunges for my hat and nearly knocks me down. He mumbles something incoherent. I barley catch him as he falls to the ground and blacks out.

I don't know what to do. I don't even know what happened to Dipper. I set the now sleeping Dipper on the bed and tuck him in. I glance at him. He is so peaceful now; I would have never guessed that he just suffered some kind of emotional breakdown if I saw him like this. In his sleep, he gently pulls the covers around him and cuddles the pillow. I'm just relieved it's over.

I go downstairs to see Soos. He can't run the shack all by himself, and besides, its raining, so business is slow.

"Hey, Hambone," My coworker says to me.

"Hey, Soos," I respond. I'm still shaken up.

"Yo, Wendy, you OK?" He asks, concerned.

"I'm not sure. Can you help me close up the shack?" I ask, distracted. I wonder how Dipper's doing?

Soos sensed the urgency in my voice. "Sure, OK," He tells me.

I sweep the floors as Soos closes the door and locks it. My phone vibrates in my pocket. It was an email from Mabel. I read it.

From MeowWowSparkle

To: WendyCorduroy , Dipinsauce , Soos!

Hi Guys! We bought our cereal and...well...let's just say Stan had a bit of a "run in" with the cops. We'll be back in an hour!

3, Mabel!

P.S. What's they hey hey with u guys?

I sighed and put my phone away. I couldn't tell her what happened to Dipper without upsetting her.

"Hey Wendy, we're done closing up shop," Soos says to me. "Now, why did we close up shop again?"

I sighed. "Come upstairs, Soos, I'll tell you," I say to him.

By the time we get upstairs, Dipper is having another nightmare. He's tossing and turning.

"What happened to Dipper?" Soos asks, concerned.

"Okay. So, I heard him screaming for Mabel, and so I decided to come and check on him," I begin. I sneak a glance at Soos. I see him intently listening. "And I shook him till he was awake. He seemed a little shaken up, but okay. So we started chatting, and all of a sudden his whole body froze up and he started shaking. He could barley breathe, Soos. And then all of a sudden, he just passes out!" I attempted to seem laid back, but I wasn't. I was incredibly scared. And then, I just couldn't hold my tears back anymore. I just cried and cried on Soos.

"I *gasp* just want him to be okay," I said through sobs. Soos was very patient. Finally, I was all dried up.

"Okay, I'm done," I said. We had a moment of silence as the rain pored outside. "Thanks for that, Soos," I added.

"No problem. Now, why don't we see what's up with the little man," He said.

I turned to look at Dipper. He looked frantic.

"Wendy, get away! GET AWAY!" He started crying. I was about to leave the room until I noticed he was asleep. "GET AWAY FROM ME! HE CAN HURT YOU TOO MUCH! WENDY!" He screamed. "WENDY!" He had lost it now. He was actually pounding his bed and sobbing. "Please. I can't loose you too," Dipper said in a quieter voice. He sobbed quietly for a while until he woke up.

Dipper didn't register us. He just turned around and barfed all over himself. Then he promptly started crying again. I felt an ache in my heart. Barf or no barf, I couldn't see my friend suffering like this. I went over and enveloped him in a hug. I felt Soos come and join the hug as well. We stay there until I feel his breathing slow. I don't even remember falling asleep until I start dreaming.