Intern

The Newspaper Ad

"I would go with you Mabel, but I don't wanna spend my summer behind a till. It'd be great to see everyone again, but perhaps mom and dad have a point. I should utilise this opportunity to make some new friends." Mason Pines remarked loudly across the dinner table. The statement clearly got to his twin Mabel who sat opposite him.

"Ah, okay. I see. You wanna go be Mr. Popular?!"

Dipper spat out the string of asparagus he'd been gnawing the end of.

For some context, the twins were discussing a topic brought up by their parents. As every child knows from experience, parents never normally have the best timing when it comes to bringing up conversational talking points. It was over a family meal that James and Annette Pines - the twins' parents - had decided to bring up the delightful topic of summer jobs. For Mabel, it'd been straightforward. She instantly decided on the Mystery Shack in Gravity Falls. Dipper, on the other hand, would've also taken the same choice as his sister, if it had not been for a last-minute parental intervention and the boy's keen interest in ghosts to draw him away.

A newspaper lay front page up on the tabletop as a quarrel began to unfold. It was a particular advertisement in the paper that had attracted the eye of Mason. A small family of four - a family of ghost hunters - were looking for an intern to be an extra pair of hands around the lab .etc.

Dipper had already rung the number earlier on in the day upon catching the ad by chance. He had been greeted by an over-enthusiastic, boastful man in his late 40s/early 50s. The man in question, Jack Fenton, was so overjoyed at Dipper's swift response and previous ghost fighting experience that he'd been offered the role before Mabel could find another 'scrapbook-ortunity'. His age wasn't even addressed, therefore was probably not an issue.

"C'mon Mabel, it's just gonna be a bit of fun! Maybe I could do something amazing - what if I captured Amity Park's number one ghost?!" Mason crowed excitedly. He had heard of Amity Park - where the mysterious laboratory was located - before through the endless amount of time he spent scoping the internet for paranormal anomalies. This was another reason the teen had been drawn to the role, eager to check out the high levels of reported spectral happenings (The advertisement was just the excuse he needed to go there!).

"Like you could catch a ghost?! You can barely keep track of how often you wash your clothes." Mabel's sharp, quick tongue snapped back instantly.

"Hey! I've faced ghosts before! Who took down the ghosts in the abandoned grocery store?! Me! Singlehandedly too." Pride lined every word that left Mason's mouth.

"You did it in a lamb costume and looked like a total dork in front of your crush." 

"Fine- um, what about the lumberjack ghost a Northwest Manor?!" His options were running out. He'd only faced four ghosts in his life. But he was desperate to make a point to his sister.

"You trapped it, but let him go again, got turned into a tree stump whilst Pacifica saved everyone!" Mabel was beginning to enjoy herself. She noticed her brother open his gob to lash back with another retort but she hopped in there before he could even utter a syllable, "And the other two, well, you ran away from One-Eyed Nick like a sissy little girl and Lady Susanna Chachki was hardly what you'd call evil and scary."

"Now Mabel, Mason, do stop arguing, please. You're both fourteen, not some little pre-schoolers anymore. You both need to stop with the ghosts and monsters. However, Dipper should go to Amity Park; like we said earlier, it presents him with a chance to make some friends with the same interests as him." Annette Pines silenced her bickering offspring.

Dipper threw his sister a triumphant smirk, "It's only a three month placement and besides, what could possibly go wrong?"