Chapter 1
Pacifica rolls her eyes at the Mystery Shack flyer. ‘The Original Mr. Mystery presenting a real live Mermaid’? Course when the old geezer returned to town this time around he would have to make a big deal about being out to sea.
Nothing about the Mystery Shack was appealing, even as she stood outside staring at the big Gideon-esk tent set up outside it, flyer in hand, there was no urgency or want to see whatever they had come up with. However the gossip was the twins were in town, and the glitter on the pink flyer was a dead giveaway that Mabel, at least, had a hand in this. Seeing her friends after losing connection in high school was enough motivation.
The inside of the tent smelled like a mixture of cheap plastic and sweat; enough that Pacifica had to dig the back of her heals into the woodchips, which sadly did nothing to fix the smell, to keep herself from running away. With her back to the opening, she silently hoped that with a little wind the smell wouldn’t stink to the fabric of her clothing.
From where Pacifica stood what she could see of the attraction made her want to laugh. A fish bowl. A giant fish bowl. She could see why it went perfectly with the shack. The crowd was gasping and making all kinds of delighted noises at something, their energy as pungent as they were. Something in the bowl made a few kids somewhere in the crowd giggle. In her mind she imagine a some kind of art project poorly held steady in the middle of the bowl.
Scanning the crowd there were few people that she recognized. The Mayor was there, of course, he was still a big fan. Soos had been outside getting money from those coming in and those leaving; and she could’ve sworn she heard the gruff voice of one of the old men somewhere ahead. But no twins.
As she was about to leave and get some fresh air, there was a flash of pink inside the bowl. Something moving almost like a dance, it was in the water. It was alive.
Had they really brought something special? Something real? Pacifica braced herself as her skin came into contact with the sticky skin of the tourists as she worked her way closer. It was a mermaid. She spun, twisted, blew bubbles and swam through them. A pink tail with purple streaks glittering under the lights of the tent, matching the pink top.
The bowl itself was decorated as if it was a giant fish bowl. A gigantic fake castle tower. A bubbling treasure chest. Candy colored rocks on the bottom. With one special pink fish.
“Hey.” A sturdy hand fell on her shoulder, with a familiar face looming over her shoulder..
“Hey Dipper,” taking her eyes off the spectacle for only a moment, “is that?”
“Mabel? Yep. She’s pretty good huh?”
“She’s a mermaid?” Panic made Pacifica’s voice break as she stared at how happily Mabel was swimming. Occasionally going into the tower and disappearing for a few moments before come back out, as if she was enjoying this. She had to wonder if this was a curse, a spell, or in Mabel’s case, a wish.
“Yep, she’s so proud of that tail. She made it herself.”
“Wait- she made it?”
“Well yeah, Mabel’s not really one to just purchase a mermaid tail when she could make-” Dipper glanced around the crowd, stopping and staring somewhere in over her shoulder. Some children from that direction squealed. “I’ll tell you about it later, don’t wanna ruin the ‘magic’.” Dipper winked before they were both interrupted by some dull thuds.
“Bahishuga!” A gargled voice cried making the two of them flinch away as Mabel pushed her face against the glass, waving frantically. A large smile which faltered as Mabel quickly rushed away in the castle.
“She’s got an air tube in here, she’ll be fine… I think. Hey you wanna come in the back and wait for the show to be over? We can catch up.”
“Thanks but I think I’ll just wait out here.”
“You sure?”
“When else am I going to get to see a ‘real live mermaid’?” She elbowed him.
“Alright, just wait here after we boot everyone else out okay?” Dipper walked backwards, bumping into a few customers who either grunted in surprise or were too distracted to respond.
“See you later.” Pacifica waved Dipper goodbye, but her eyes were on Mabel. After catching her breath in the castle she was back to some water acrobatics. The crowd cheered her on. Even though Mabel wasn’t technically a real Mermaid, Pacifica found it an enchanting performance.