Oh no I just wrote my first fanfiction. I am now a fanfic author. Ahhhh!
I was reading the one where a mute person summons dipper and thinking of how interesting the concept would be if it were more aware of Deaf culture. I’m not deaf, I’m just an ASL 102 student who was a little disappointed by references to said culture. So yeah… Take this before I realize what I’ve done. O_O

PS: I have no idea how the spacing is affected by this, maybe look it over and fix spacing errors before posting?
PSS: The phone thing actually happened to me once. Only I was in public where people can laugh (and did) at me. I basically took the Alex Hirsch approach to this story… okay for reals I’m done now.
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Not gonna lie, the first time I summoned a demon I was scared out of my mind. I knew from my demonology books that Alcor was normally a merciful demon, that tended to take it easy on newcomers. But, I had also read about those terrifying moments when someone had managed to anger him, and I knew that if I did that there would be no escape.

Even so, there was no reason not to make every preparation I could for success. So I double checked my summoning circle, made sure to use the best candles I could afford, and even had two flasks full of holy water in my pockets in case something went horribly wrong. After that, I double checked my notebook to make sure I had planned out every possibility for the conversation. I really didn’t want to leave any loopholes in my deal, but I knew once I summoned him my mind would be going blank with fear. Heck, it did that when I went to the doctor for a normal check up, so who knows how I would act when conversing with a demon? At last I had no choice but to admit that I had prepared for every possibility I could and there was nothing left to do but summon him.

I took a deep breath. I pricked my finger with a knife I had brought for the occasion. I had already placed some candy in the circle as my offering (apparently this demon had a thing for sweets) but a little virgin blood couldn’t hurt, unless he thought I’d killed someone. A few drops fell into the circle and I looked back at my notebook to begin signing the chant.
“Stella splendida,” I finger-spelled in the air one letter a time, careful to articulate each one fully and properly, “vos invoco. Vos invoco ut faciatis voluntatem meam. Dico nomen vestrum: Alcor!”

I was holding my breath. Black smoke poured out of the floor. I coughed and crouched down on the floor under the smoke. Perhaps the kitchen was not the best place for this. I glanced at the window, considering opening it, and saw tendrils of ice creeping up it. A gust of cold wind swept by, hitting the candles and causing their fires to flare up to seven times their normal height. The smoke began to condense and take shape, a black hole in space growing into the shape of a man with wings sprouting out of his lower back, and a top hat upon his head. His yellow and black eyes snapped open and fixed upon me, and suddenly I felt like prey locking eyes with a predator. A wide grin stretched across his face, up past his cheeks and towards his ears. The color began to spread from his eyes, making his skin glow a golden yellow before paling into a more subtle pink. His hair softened into a light brown. The buttons on his clothes illuminated into little yellow dots and stars, the same color as the soles of his shoes and the rim of his top hat. He opened his mouth and I felt the air vibrate with his laugh.

I saw his mouth move and felt the air shake as if his voice were not that of a human but a prolonged clap of thunder. I raised my hands and signed my reply.

“Sorry. I can’t hear you,” I began, “I’m deaf.” I finished pointing at my ears with my index finger and sliding it back down to point at my mouth. I could feel my hands trembling. I saw understanding flicker in his eyes. The smoke began to dissipate and I felt the room begin to warm back up. He sat down midair (or he conjured a tall invisible chair to sit in, I wasn’t sure) and signed his reply.

“Who dares summon Alcor the Dreambender?” he signed, tipping his head and furrowing his brow. I glanced at my notebook. In bold letters I saw the warning I’d written to myself, reminding me not to answer that question. The last thing I needed was a demon knowing my true name. It took a few extra seconds to calm down enough for me to even read my preplanned reply.

“I want you to cure all of my allergies forever. In return I offer you five of my favorite memories, as chosen by myself.” I was allergic to practically everything, dust, pollen, like twenty different foods, it was a nightmare. He shook his head, displeased with the offer.

“Your allergies aren’t worth that much,” he signed, “How about four memories of my choice, and I’ll cure your allergies, and restore your hearing?” He leaned forward and raised his eyebrows, a yes-no question then.

“No thank you.” I signed. “How about three memories of my choice for the allergies?” He looked perplexed.

“You want to stay deaf? Why?” he wondered furrowing his brow again. I analyzed his face, trying to guess if he was just making the expression for the sake of the ASL grammar or actually sincerely baffled. Maybe he seriously didn’t get it?

“I like the peace. I enjoy signing with the rest of the deaf community. I don’t want a demon messing around with my senses more than I have to. Its part of who I am.” I finished. He sat for a moment, thinking this over.

“Have you been deaf since birth?” he asked. I nodded, both my head and my hand. He smirked at that.

“Alright then how about this. I will completely remove your allergies for the rest of your life. In return, you will allow me to restore your hearing for one and a half hours. At the end of the hour and a half, you will be deaf again.” He asked with that huge grin. I rolled my eyes. He probably thought I would enjoy hearing so much I would want to make a second deal with him. That or he was trying to trick me. I consulted the notebook. Most of my loophole preventive phrases were worded specifically to the original deal. For example I saw the phrase

“You may not take more than five of my memories, or look into/alter any of the others in any way.” This new deal was more complicated. I felt my heart pounding and my vision darkened a bit with panic. What if I missed something?

“One moment.” I signed. He nodded and reclined back in his apparently invisible chair. I crossed off the phrases that no longer applied and tried to think of as many ways this could go wrong as possible, while also trying to take deep calming breaths. I felt my cheeks flushing with blood as the demon watched me work. Finally, I rewrote the entire deal at the bottom of the page so I could just read it all off without having to assemble all the pieces in my head. I looked it over a few times, feeling like I was definitely missing something but I couldn’t think of what.

“You will heal my immune system so that no allergic reactions may take place for the rest of my life. In return I will allow you to restore my hearing for exactly one and a half hours. You must return my deafness once the hour and a half has finished. You may not alter any of my other senses, harm my body, or harm my mind. You may not hire, possess, or convince someone else to hurt me in any way. You may not manipulate, hurt, kidnap, possess, or destroy any of my possession, friends, family, or anything else I care about. You may not pull me into the dreamscape, or invade my mind if I chose to sleep. You may not make any sounds at all in my presence during the hour and a half in which I am hearing, not even by bringing in something else that makes a sound or messing with the objects already in my house, nor may you hang around in my house to bother me for that period of time.” I paused and thought, what had I missed, how would I exploit this deal if I were a demon? I couldn’t see anything, but Alcor seemed to. He was grinning.

“Deal.” he said holding a blue flaming hand out at the end of the circle, inviting me to reach in pass the protective force field. I hesitated, but he was waiting and I knew I couldn’t think straight enough to find a loophole even if it existed anyway.

“Agreed.” I signed. Against my better judgment, I took his hand.

Blue fire raced up my arm, I jumped but it didn’t burn. It felt a bit like warm water flowing up my arm and over my body. A bunch of it collected around my ears and I felt them pop. The first thing I heard was the low buzz of the refrigerator two rooms away. This wasn’t so bad. I could just read a book for the next hour and a half and then pretend it never happened. If Alcor thought he was going to sucker me into another deal that easily he was obvious mistak-

Suddenly the demon yanked on my arm with such force I felt like my arm was being ripped off. We seemed to be flying a millions of miles an hour and my first thought was that we were going to crash into something and I would splatter like a bug. My second thought was that my arm was going to be ripped off and that I had essentially just traded my arm for the ability to eat cheese again. Then, before I could think of anything else, we stopped.

I swayed on my feet and waited to turn into jelly from the immense kinetic forces. When that didn’t happen I felt my arm, checking to see if it was still attached. Somehow it was. I took a breath and it hitched like I was about to start crying. I held it for a second and then I noticed where I was.

I was standing on a wooden bridge. I could hear a weird sound going “bloop bloop” off to my right. At the end of the bridge was the forest. This looked exactly like the bridge used by four wheelers not too far away from my house. I spun around and took it in. The feel of old, somewhat damp wood beneath my feet, the river and the rocky shore down below, the dark, navy blue sky that was slowly becoming brighter as the sun approached sunrise, yeah this was the bridge on the other side of town. That or I was dreaming. But I had written a clause about that hadn’t I? So surely not.

We had teleported then. There was no other explanation. Why? Maybe this was a trap. I imagined all the monsters that could be lurking along the trail between my house and this bridge. It was a forty minute walk at best. Maybe thirty if I ran. There were houses along the way but mostly it was patches of forest. There could be any number of creatures passing through here, although I had taken this path often enough to be fairly certain no dangerous creatures lived there. If he really wanted to kill me I would have expected him to bring me someplace more dangerous, like a desert or something.

Thinking these thoughts I turned to investigate that weird “bloop bloop bloop” sound I had heard. I took a step and jumped at the weird “pap” sound my foot made when it hit the ground. Wow I was going to be jumping at everything wasn’t I?

I followed the source of the bubbling, expecting some horrible monster to be lurking under the bridge, and found nothing. Everything looked and felt as it should. After a few minutes of studying the water intently I realized that was just the sound the water made when it hit the bridge. I sighed and sat down trying to calm myself. But that was impossible because I knew I still had the long terrifying walk home where I expected to be attacked by everything that could possibly be lurking in the woods.

I took a deep breath, kinda weirded out by the hissing sound it made, and opened my phone. It was 4:13am. Possibly not the most reasonable hour to summon demons I admit, but I didn’t really want my family around while I was doing it. Besides, it was summer vacation. I knew the sun would start rising soon, so most the terrors of the night would be heading to sleep. Maybe I should just wait on the bridge? Then again a wide open area like this meant I could be spotted from afar, not to mention Alcor might just get upset that I was trying to wait out my one-point-five hour curse. I could always text/video chat someone for help, or use the TTY relay service and sign for help that way, but that might also piss off Alcor. Besides I wasn’t really in danger yet. No point waking anyone up and raising alarms unless I was actually in danger. And anyway, I really didn’t want to explain that I’d summoned a demon to my parents if my life wasn’t in danger.

So I stood up and crept quietly along the edge of the bridge. I didn’t think I was in danger but I should grab a weapon regardless. There weren’t any rocks nearby and I didn’t really want to try lugging a bunch of them around with me. My black sweatpants had pretty shallow pockets. They basically only held the phone, holy water, and some tissues. My black T shirt was utterly pocketless. If I’d known I was going hiking on some demonic quest I’d have worn a hoodie and maybe a backpack loaded with crosses or something, but as it was I was kinda defenseless. At least it was pretty warm out. I wasn’t wearing shoes either, but that didn’t really bother me. It was only warm enough to go shoeless in this state for three months out of the year, and I’d be damned if I wasn’t going to get all the mileage out of those three months that I could.

I reached the end of the bridge, jumping at every creaking sound it made before realizing that wood does that, and took a tentative step on the dirt path. Apparently dirt was quiet. I took another, heavier step and only heard the dullest of pap sounds in response. So that was a good thing. I headed for the trees so I could grab a stick or something and was greeted by an earth shattering snap.

I froze. I waited. A few minutes ticked by and I took another step.

SNAP!

Apparently the woods were noisy. I tried moving slower but even then the twigs were crazy loud. I put my hands over my ears and wondered how any hearing person could bear to take a walk through the woods. I finally reached a fallen tree and managed rip off a limb, though that was even noiser than walking and this time I couldn’t even hold my hands over my ears while I did it.

Now I had a walking stick/weapon. I ran back through the trees, trying to aim my footfalls for the little green plants, and soon I stepped back on the dirt path to home. If I encountered gnomes or werewolves I was basically doomed, but maybe between the holy water and stake I could last a few seconds against a vampire? At least until the sun rose in a half hour. I knew it was stupid to think I’d find a vampire or something in this secluded part of the woods, but it was hard not to be paranoid when messing with occult forces.

I kept walking. Soon the bridge disappeared behind me. I glanced at my phone and saw that it was 4:22. Not bad progress so far.

SHREEEEAK EEEK EEK EEEEEK!

I froze again. I was starting to hate these woods, which was weird because I came here quite a bit when I wanted some alone time.

SHREEEEAK EEK EEK EEEEEEEK! Sounded the reply somewhere to my left. I turned and looked for the source of the sound. It sounded twice more before I spotted the enemy. It was a small brown bird sitting in one of the trees. I’d always heard from hearing people that the reason I needed to get a cochlear implant to restore my hearing was so I could listen to “the beautiful chirping of the birds.” If this was the sound they were referring to, then hearing people were insane.

I kept walking. I wished I could cover my ears but the stick I was holding was a bit too big to cradle in my arms while holding my hands over my ears. As I progressed I heard more and more birds join the call, and soon I heard even more cries.

SQEEAK squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak.

CHEEAK-A! CHEAKA-DEE-DEE-DEE-DEE-DEEEEE.

AW-AW-AW!

They all piled on top of each other, fighting for attention in the woods. By the time I actually encountered a monster I feared I’d be so used to the weird shrieking sounds of the forest I’d just ignore whatever warning cry it gave. So instead I just relied on what I usually did, sight and vibrations. The path looked perfectly clear to me, not counting the occasional swoop of a bird. After a while I spotted a dandelion and figured I might as well take a moment to enjoy my actual gift, which was the ability to smell flowers and eat foods without my nose clogging up. I veered toward the flower but then froze.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

I felt the rumble from this sound, but before I could place it a bee flew over and landed on the flower I was aiming for. Normally I’d just wait for it to finish and move on but that sound it was making me seriously uncomfortable so I just backed away. Whatever, maybe I could find a wild strawberry or something and enjoy my gift that way.

The woods opened up to a clearing. I passed by a house and heard the whirring sound I recognized from my fridge as I passed it by. I heard the crickets which were just as noisy and irritating as the birds had been before the clearing merged back into woods and I got to enjoy that fabulous clatter again. Occasionally, the woods opened to roads and I heard a distant wind that I imagined probably belonged to cars passing in the distance, although I couldn’t really be sure.

The trail continued through the woods again. I was halfway there! Then I heard a roar in the distance. I stopped. I raised my stick and turned my head trying to locate the source. It seemed to be coming from straight ahead, maybe off to the right slightly, so I stepped off to the left and waited for it to appear. Was it a bear? I heard bears had thunderous roars but I figured they weren’t continuous. This one just kept going, getting louder and louder and louder until I almost wanted to throw my stake down and just let it eat me as long as I could cover my ears against it. Finally it rounded the corner and I saw what it was.

A four wheeler. My first thought was of relief. My second was “what weirdo rides four-wheelers at four in the morning?” He passed by and I saw that he had a fishing rod on the back. That explained that I guessed. The sound slowly retreated. I rubbed my ears. They kinda hurt from that. It was interesting to know something was approaching so far in advance though. I wondered what I should actually listen for to look out for bears? Probably a snapping sound in the woods. I imagined something that big would probably break twigs or something lumbering through.

A few minutes later I saw the path open up for the last time. I was out of the woods! Figuratively and literally. All I had to do now was make it home. My house was only a few blocks away. The odds of encountering a car on the road at four in the morning in a town as tiny as this were statically very small. Sadly my luck is terrible.

VvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOM!

It wasn’t even a normal car. It was a motorcycle. I dropped the stake and covered my ears while it passed. It wasn’t like I needed it. I could almost see my house on the horizon. So close!
BZZZZ!

I jumped.
BZZZZ!

My first thought was that a bee had somehow gotten stuck in my pants, so I waved my arms in sheer panic.
BZZZZ!

Then I remembered my phone, which was on vibrate.

BZZZZ!

I pulled it out and read the message. It was my bro.

Ali: Eli WHY did you summon a demon???

Cele3: Um. It… seemed like a good idea at the time?

Cele3: Also I’m fine thanks for asking.
Ali: I’m sleepy as all, cut me a slack.

Ali: But I STILL know summoning demons is like

Ali: maybe not a great idea?

Cele3: Nah its cool. We’re cool. I’ll be home in like… some couple of minutes.

I was already getting pretty close actually. Just a few houses away.

Ali: You still nevre andwered my question.

Cele3: Um. I was hoping he would cure my allergies. And he did, but he also like, restored my hearing.

Ali: Huh.

Ali: So like

Cele3: I have no idea how you guys put up with btw. These FREAKING BIRDS.

Ali: you can hear things now?

Cele3: They won’t stop screaming D:

Cele3: But I’m almost home. So we good.

Cele3: Oh also, this is only until 5:43.

Cele3: I’ll be back to normal soon

Ali: What is?

Cele3: The hearing thing.

Ali: Hm.

Ali: Should I like, show you all the best songs or…? No, that’s probably dumb.

My bro knew me well. Seriously screw hearing and all its…

Ali: Cause you won’t be able to hear them ever again.

Never mind. Scratch that.

Cele3: Actually I just go home, so yeah lets discuss this in person.

Ali: Fair enough.

I walked up the steps which made weird sorta thump thump sounds despite my lack of shoes. I opened the door which creaked and made me jump all over again. And step onto the porch and opened the main door, jumping a second time when I heard the first door slam shut. And then I saw my bro.

He was still in pajamas which I couldn’t really fault him for, considering it was 4:49 in the morning, according to the stove clock. Actually apparently I’d made great time.

“Why did you summon a DEMON?” he signed furiously. I shrugged and blushed.

“I don’t like having allergies.”

“What was the demon like? ” he asked turning away from the door. Apparently he was still tired.

“Uhhhh…. he’s pretty chill I guess.” I signed back. I wasn’t really sure how I was supposed to answer that.

“Um. Okay.” He replied, obviously not sure what to say about that either. A bit too late I thought of something worth saying.

“I sacrificed a chocolate bar to him.”

“You sacrificed our chocolate bar?!”

“We have like… three more.” I said gesturing at the pantry. Actually if anyone should be upset about that it was me. He didn’t even like dark chocolate.

“I’m…” he paused to yawn and then resumed “I’m going to bed.” I blinked at that.

“You don’t want to like… show me music or something?” I asked raising my eyebrows.

“Then you’ll never be able to hear it again!” he reminded me. I shrugged.

“If I really want to hear things I could like, summon another demon. Or get a cochlear implant, I guess, like a normal person…. Mom could afford it.” I wondered why I’d brought it up. Maybe it was because I knew he did want me to hear music and I didn’t want him to regret not doing that. He bit his lip.

“Uuuuuuh… I don’t know. Maybe, like… Taking Over Midnight?” I rolled my eyes.

“Ehhh sure if you want. I guess.”

It was 5:40am. Ali had gone back to bed after showing me the videos. He had offered to stay up with me but I really didn’t want Alcor meeting the rest of my family. Besides, he was clearly exhausted. I sat in the kitchen, next to the summoning circle. One of the cats walked in and saw me.

“Mreoow?” I paused. I’d never heard them try to speak before. I patted my lap and she ran over with an excited “Meooow!” I smiled at the white pile of fur on my lap. Flash was such an attention hog. She was also shedding like it was going out of style, but that shouldn’t be a problem now right? I rubbed her face and she butted against my hand affectionately.

“Purrrrrr” she rumbled, “Purrrrrrrrrr.” I paused. She noticed and looked up at me.

“Mreow?”

“Mur.” I tried meowing back but my voice came out really low and weird sounding. I just rubbed her head instead. I glanced at the clock just in time to see the minute change. 5:43.

The air ran cold. The candles, which had long gone out, sparked to life. An unnatural wind rushed forth as if to greet the figure as he materialized in the circle once more. He looked smaller, and younger, maybe around 12. But then, a demon as powerful as this could surely appear as whatever age they wanted right?

“How did you enjoy your little nature walk?” He signed. I glared.
“Oh man it was glorious. All those birds shrieking. Thinking I’d probably been pulled out there just so I could be mauled by a bear or something and jumping at every little sound while I waited for it to happen.” I signed as sarcastically as I could. I made sure to throw in a “TEASE” sign just so he couldn’t possibly miss it. He actually looked kinda apologetic when I was done.

“I take it you don’t want me make a second deal then? To restore it for good?” He leaned forward again, searching my face. I considered all that I had experienced. The usefulness of knowing when something was coming. The horrible never ending screams of the forest I normally loved. The affectionate purr of my cat. The noisy bubbling near my nice peaceful bridge. Watching music videos with my brother and watching him try to share his passion with me, the agonizing roar of the vehicles. Finally my eyes fell upon the fridge, the first sound I’d ever heard. I listened to it hum and whirr softly to itself, indicating it was on. I thought of what it would be like when I tried to sleep tonight, my room just above that persistent humming.

“I want to be deaf again please,” I said, “at least for now.”