UnderFalls!!! 

126: “ No way, that’s so lame. ”

Dipper flipped through the pages of a large red binder. He admired the contents proudly. He was so glad he decided to take it with him when his parents sent him and his sister out to Gravity Falls for the summer. He looked at the cards tucked into their neatly packed and laminated folders. Each one more colorful than the last. The little figures and monsters that inhabited them were from a Japanese video game Dipper loved playing. When he got his first card, it was love at first sight. He’d been collecting them since he was six. He’d always give the cute ones he already had to Mabel. Dipper hugged the binder close, blocking out the rest of the world.

“Whatcha got there, kiddo?,” the gruff voice of his great uncle Stan said over Dipper’s shoulder. The kid let out a high-pitched screech and slammed the binder shut. Grunkle Stan cracked up at the sudden action. “That’s always good for a laugh.”

“G-Grunkle Stan?! Do you not know anything about personal space?!” 

“Eh, yeah but that doesn’t make you make that girly scream,” Stan said while his laughing fell to a mild chuckle. 

Dipper blushed. Hopefully his prepubescent voice cracking wouldn’t be around for much longer. It was embarassing. Dipper moved the binder away from his uncle. “You just startled me, okay? Sudden noises tend to do that.”

 Stan frowned a bit before putting on a huge grin. “Hey, I’m sorry. I was just having a good laugh. Mabel’s off with her friends for the day so it looks like it’s just us guys,” Stan cheerily replied as he patted Dipper’s back a bit harder than needed. 

“What about Soos? He’s normally over here anyways.”

“He and his Abuelita are out of town at his cousin’s wedding. Besides, I thought it’d be great for us to just hang out. Last time it was just us we were accusing a teen that wears eyeliner of brainwashing girls you have a giant crush on-”

“I-I DON’T HAVE A CRUSH ON WENDY! WHO SAID I HAVE A CRUSH ON WENDY?! THAT’S RIDICULOUS!” Dipper went into a full out panic at Stan’s words. He could feel his heart beat out of his chest.

“Woah, take it easy there. No one told me you had a crush on Wendy. I just put two and two together, is all. Nothing wrong with it. And it’s pretty obvious you do. You think no one else can hear you whispering?”

Dipper’s blush grew darker as he tried to hide under his hat. 

“Hey, don’t sweat it. Plenty of boys get crushes on girls that are older than them. Happened to someone I knew when I was a kid.”

“Was it you?” Dipper’s interest was peeked. He didn’t much about Grunkle Stan’s past, let alone his childhood. 

Stan laughed gently at what Dipper assumed was a memory. “Well… me and someone else I knew. He was a total nerd just like you. I mean, in a good way. Was really into science and aliens and stuff. He tried to talk to an older girl when we were teens and she threw punch in his face. Guess it was kinda my fault though. I gave him a bad pick up line.” 

Dipper couldn’t help but laugh at that. Stan giving someone bad advice wasn’t that surprising but it was still funny. “Where’s your friend at now?”

“Who knows. Probably out in the middle of nowhere waiting on someone to find him…” Stan seemed to go quiet after saying that. 

Dipper kicked his feet in the absent air under his chair. The awkward silence seemed to go on for hours rather than minutes. Dipper was surprised when Stan reached over him and plucked the binder right off the table. 

“W-wait! Don’t look through that! That’s private!” Dipper exclaimed as he tried to make a grab for it. But his tiny limbs were cut short by Stan’s outstretched arm keeping him at bay. “NO! DON’T!”

Stan examined the cards with a confused look. “Is this what kids are into now a days? Little make believe monsters on cheap cards?”

“They aren’t cheap! They’re really valuable and important to me! Give them back!” 

Stan rolled his eyes and returned the binder to his nephew. Dipper quickly flipped through the pages to make sure no damage was done. 

“So… You really like collecting those things? Anyone else know?”

“N-no… The only people who do are Mabel and my parents… I don’t exactly broadcast it because people think it’s lame… Not like you’d get it…” Dipper frowned at his words. It felt strange talking to his uncle about this. How would HE ever understand? All he’s ever collected was tourists’ cash. 

Stan rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, trying to find the words to make the kid feel better. An idea popped into Stan’s head.

“Hey. You wanna see something cool?” 

“Wha… What is it?” Dipper looked up at his uncle with a skeptical look on his face.

“It’s in my office in the safe. Come on.”

Soon they were in the room while Stan started putting in the combination. Dipper looked around at all the weird items the man had in his private quarters. He wasn’t very impressed.

“Tadaaaaa!” Stan loudly exclaimed as he presented a small foldable leather pad to the boy. Dipper just looked down at it just as confused as his Grunkle was earlier.

“Pennies? No way, that’s so lame. You don’t even have that many. You only have five.”

“These aren’t just ANY pennies, kid. These coins are rare, U.S. mint, whole copper, 1943 wheat pennies. The most rare coins you’re ever gonna see in your lifetime. Made from from leftover copper planchets that were stuck in the press system. They’re the most valuable and desirable of all Mint error coins. One of these puppies sold for a million bucks at an auction recently.”

Dipper’s eyes went wide. Stan had something as valuable as that and he’s just been keeping it to himself? “W-wait a sec. How come you never sold these if they’re so valuable? You’d be living it large now if you did!” Knowing Stan’s love of money, it was the most surprising thing to learn about him. 

“Heh, you remember that friend I was telling you about?” 

Dipper nodded in response.

“Well when we were kids we’d always try and fish out coins from sewer grates. You know, the ole gum on a string trick. Well it finally worked for us and the first coin we ever caught together was one of these bad boys. My old man had a pawn shop and he told us to hang on to it. When we went our separate ways, I got the coin since times were a little hard for me. Had to sell it just to put food on the table. But then I found another one and another one and so on. I didn’t have the heart to sell them. So I started to collect them.” The smile on Stan’s face told Dipper the story was genuine and made him return the gesture. 

“That’s pretty cool.”

“Yeah. I think yours is pretty cool too.”

200 writing prompts