Did you know that in ye olden times, I used to write fanfiction for the Gravity Falls Transcendence AU? Well, I totally did, and I recently mirrored one of those old fics to AO3. Check it out, if you’re into that!
Tag: willow
terrifyingtyrannosaurusturtle:
The first time Alcor truly lost control wasn’t when his star fell to earth. It wasn’t when his brother put down the axe and left the forest for another. He only mourned when his Little Fighter gave up the battle, when his Bright One finally guttered out. It was when his Pole Star, his True North faded, did he lose himself.
The Edge with Acacia Pines
Shoutout again to @tonithelibrarian for editing again – I wanted to try something a little different with this one.
The Edge: Episode One
*video start*
*Video opens to a shot of ratty sneakers, quickly swinging up to a hand-lettered sign. The cardboard is covered with glitter and stickers, with “The Edge: Ep 1” written on it in large, purple letters.*
*The sign is dropped to reveal a widely grinning face, covered in freckles, crowned with a glowing halo of red curls*
“You getting this, Hank?” *The camera dips slightly, as if the person holding it nodded.* “Will, you ready? Okay – hey there viewers, and welcome to my new series, ‘The Edge’! I’m Acacia, and I’ll be your host and stuntwoman! We’re going to start this series off strong, so with no further ado, let’s get to it!”
*The camera cuts out, only to refocus on a sunny clearing. There’s a hammock strung between two trees, and what appears to be a man sleeping in it. Acacia’s voice comes over the video, though the feed stays on the man in the hammock.*
“See that there?” *Acacia is obviously trying to be quiet, but she still speaks much too loudly for stealth.* “We’re located in Gravity Falls, home of the famed demon Alcor the Dreambender, and that’s the demon himself, taking a nap in the sunshine.”
*The camera zooms in on Alcor, bringing the floating top hat, the claw tipped fingers and the fangs just visible inside his open mouth into focus. There’s a small spill of golden drool at the corner of the snoozing demon’s mouth, and he’s obviously deep asleep, and just as obviously the real deal. The camera swings around to Acacia, who is holding a long stick and grinning in evil anticipation.*
“He’s not going to be sleeping much longer…” *The announcement is made with a level of glee completely at odds with what the stick says she proposes to do.*
Y’all TAU fuckers really love your glitter, dontcha.
–
When one thinks of glitter in relation to the Pines family, the person who immediately comes to mind is the eccentric but lovable warrior mom, Mabel.
One does not, generally, think of the wheelchair-bound sarcastic but lovable old man who took the Pines twins and their family in as his own, but after the events of one memorable June, it would take a few years to shake the association of him with glitter from their minds.
Mabel was always creative, but every few weeks she tended to have moods that the rest of the family learned to dread: sudden bouts of increased inspiration, and her canvas was everything. During one, she repainted the kitchen a rather garish shade of blue and did her best at sponging in clouds–Stan had Dipper reverse the action for his emergency supply of junk food a few days later. During another, each triplet had gotten a unique makeover. “Unique makeover” being roughly translated to “I look like someone straight out of the Capitol in the Hunger Games, plus multiludes of glitter make-up and worse hair.” Acacia went with it, but both Hank and Willow refused to be seen outside for days even after Dipper helped them clean up.
When the Pines woke up Sunday morning the first week of June, a feeling of dread hung over each member. Tired as they were, no one recognized the feeling until Miss Imagination herself pranced into the kitchen bearing armfuls of glitter, ribbon, and other crafty materials.
The entire family, halfway through breakfast, merely stared for a moment as a shit-eating grin spread across Mabel’s face. Then she started forward, Dipper yelled “Scatter!” and everyone lunged for one doorway or another.
The triplets and the resident demon got away relatively safely, some pelted with the one container of glitter that had been open, but Stanley was having trouble maneuvering his wheelchair through the doorway without help. This happened often due to his aversion to asking for assistance. Unfortunately, today was probably the worst day to have troubles.
“Grunkle Stan…” Mabel approached him slowly, an all-too-sweet sing-song tone to her voice. She brandished her glitter threateningly. The evil glint in her eye showed she knew exactly how much her family hated her moods, and that she didn’t care one tiny bit.
Dipper and his niblings determinedly avoided the kitchen for as long as possible, ignoring Stanley’s pleas for mercy. When Mabel finally emerged into the living room, it was with a wicked grin plastered to her face along with multicolor glitter. A few ribbons were draped around her shoulders, and her wild brown hair was even more so. The triplets dreaded to see what Grunkle Stan would look like if she looked this messy.
“Who wants to see my latest masterpiece?” Mabel asked, flinging herself onto the couch beside her brother. Acacia and Willow looked at each other nervously while Dipper picked at his claws. Hank tried to appear busy by picking up the nearest book, but he quickly put it down–it was one Dipper had obtained in a deal that Henry hadn’t gotten around to finding a place for yet. Mabel frowned indignantly before grabbing Dipper’s wrist. “Come on!”
The triplets hesitantly followed as their uncle was forcibly dragged towards the dining room where Stanley sat in shame. They heard a sharp “Oh dear,” before they finally stepped through the doorway, and each let out their own cry of surprise.
Grunkle Stan sat in all his glittery glory, face buried in his hands. His wheelchair was bedazzled generously, ribbons draped across every available spot and decorating the spokes on the wheels. Glitter adorned the fabric of the wheelchair and clung to the handles and armrests. Stan himself had recieved a manicure of a lovely array of colors that didn’t necessrily go together, and his customary bowtie was replaced with a loud yellow ribbon tied into a bow. Mabel had fashioned him a sash of red and dark blue ribbon that proclaimed “MR. MYSTERY” in foam stick-on letters that were sprinkled with glitter. His suit jacket (which he often wore with just briefs accompanying it) was given a fine coating of yellow and pink glitter. What really stuck out to everyone who had just entered the room, however, was also probably the most mortifying aspect for Stanley.
His thinning gray hair had been pulled into pigtails tied with red ribbon, purple glitter sprinkled on his scalp. It was made funnier by the sheer lack of hair he had, so that it was ridiculously small clumps that were tied off. Stanley groaned in misery while Mabel simply beamed.
Needless to say, the incident would remain fresh in the Pines’ minds for months to come.
Prompt: We all know that Dipper has the tendency to hack up hairballs. Give us a list of some of the weirder things that have come out of his stomach.
Seven Things Dipper
Puked Up Like A Demon KittyProduced
From the Ether:1. Red Hair
“Yeah, that will be two thousand dollars.”
Stan pulled away the phone from his ear as the voice on the
other end squawked loudly in protest. He let the rube go on for a minute then
barked in the phone, “Shut up and let me get a word in! Sheesh.”A dark mutter on the other side, and Stan shook his head
pityingly.
“I know it’s expensive, but can you think of anyone else on
the market that’s selling not only a bezoar, but a bezoar from a genuine demon?
Think of the possibilities!”A pause.
“Well, yes, it may be no different than a regular bezoar,”
Stan admitted, rolling his eyes. “But even if it’s not… well. A smart man like
you, I’m sure can think of ways to perhaps upsell this.”More muttering and Stan grinned. Got him.
Belying the look on his face, Stan’s voice turned sorrowful.
“Okay, okay, I see that you don’t believe the testimonials my other customers
have given you, my own quality assurances. For you, I’ll do fifteen hundred.”Another squawk and Stan scowled. It was a good thing Dipper
kept being weird and puking the damn things up.“Okay, fine, twelve hundred but I go no lower… you’ll take
it? Good! I’ll be up tomorrow in Bend and we can finish the deal there.”A few more niceties and Stan hung up the phone over a
thousand dollars richer.He looked up.
Mabel was standing in the doorway, tapping her foot and
folding her arms.“Sweetie I can explain-“
Mabel suddenly smiled. This did not assuage Stan’s fears by
any means at all. In fact, he felt his heart stutter.Mabel walked over and suddenly gave him a big hug.
“Oh Grunkle Stan you big softie!”
“Um, what?”
“Providing for the kids’ college funds like that! I mean I
know they’re babies right now but it’s so important to start young-“Stan choked.
“What? Kid I love you but you’ve got to be ki-“
He looked into Mabel’s eyes.
Sighed.
She kissed his cheek.
“If you want to sell Dipper’s weird demon puke without me
knowing, you really should consider the internet.”2. Rhinestones
Dipper coughed, and a shower of rhinestones landed on Mabel’s
sweater, perfectly bedazzling it.His sister was not as impressed or happy as he hoped.
“Dipper!”
“What? You bedazzled your face once!”
His twin threw aside the math homework she had been working
on and stomped her foot in protest.“That’s not what I’m upset about!”
Dipper frowned. He was only being a sensitive and thoughtful
brother who wanted to do something nice for his sister.Mabel pinched her nose, a gesture she had picked up since
they had moved in with Grunkle Stan.“I’ve been looking for these for a week now. I was going to
use them for Mom’s birthday present?” At Dipper’s blank look, she sighed and
said, “You know, I told you! I’m going to do their wedding picture but five
feet tall and with sparkles and sequins and-“She pointed her finger at him.
“Rhinestones.”
“Just get some more then.”
She looked at him witheringly. “Stan had to drive me all the
way to Bend to get those Dipper. It cost me a few hours working at the Shack.”He didn’t get the problem. “Just make a deal with me then! I
can blip you there no problem, no, wait… These rhinestones, on your desk, only
a few drops of blood or that Snickers you got in your desk-““You’re still missing the point!”
“What’s the point?”
“Don’t mess with my
stuff-““I can replace it though!”
“That’s not…I…” Mabel let out a long scream of frustration
that grated on his sensitive ears.“I think you need to calm down Mabel.”
That turned out to be the wrong thing to say.
(Stan eventually had to come upstairs to break up their
fight, which was kind of hard when he couldn’t see or hear one of them, but he
did it anyway.)3. Teeth (bovine)
“Can I use these to make a necklace?”
Dipper looked from the deer teeth, which still, god damnit still brought up bad memories, to his
grand-nephew.“Um, sure?” He paused. “Didn’t really think you were one for
jewelry Nito.”Nito calmly scooped the still wet and covered in goo teeth
into a plastic shopping bag he had gotten from the bag bag on the wall.“Oh I’m not, but I got an assignment due in Sculpture class
next week, and I can make something really pretentious and over the top with
these.”Dipper grinned. It did his heart good to see Nito conning
his way through art school.4. The TV Remote
Despite the massive amount of books and reading that went on
in the Shack, the arts and crafts, the home repair, there was still seven
people and only one TV in the house.Frequently, there were conflicts.
“Uncle Dipper! Mom said it was my turn for the TV!”
Dipper laid a gloved hand on his chest, and contrived to
look mortally wounded.“Pole Star, who is the adult here?”
“You-“
He grinned, exposing both rows of fangs.
“Good. And as such, I get dibs on the TV.”
Acacia folded her arms and frowned at him
“Nuh-uh. Mom said-“ She screwed her face up remembering for
a second and went on. “If you’re going to act thirteen like the kids then you
get treated like you’re thirteen.”Damn. He hoped that she had forgotten that.
Acacia held out a hand for the clicker. “Gimme.”
In response, Dipper opened his mouth wider than should be
humanly possible and threw the clicker up in the air. A long snakelike tongue
shot out, wrapped around it, and pulled it down into his stomach. He clicked
his mouth closed and looked at Acacia pleased as punch.In response Acacia looked at him calculatingly for a second,
then punched his stomach.“Ac̷a͞c͝ia ̸what̷-“
He looked at the TV. The channel had changed.
Oh no–
She punched his stomach again and the channel changed once
more.“Polaris!”
Another punch and it landed on the channel that Acacia
wanted. She patted his stomach with a smug grin, then snuggled up to him on the
couch, satisfied with her victory.(A few hours later Henry noticed that the clicker was oddly
sticky. He decided he was happier not knowing.)5. An empty carton of
ice creamHenry shook his head at Dipper.
“Seriously?”
“What?”
Henry rolled his eyes as he tossed the carton in the trash.
“Next time don’t blame the kids.”
6. The Mirror of Samkarahra
“Guys, guys!”
Hank and Acacia looked up as Willow burst into the room,
wheezing from running up the stairs.“You need your inhaler Will?” Acacia asked.
Willow scowled.
“No, I’m fine Cacia,” Willow grit
out with as much scorn as a seven year old could muster.Hank saw Acacia open her mouth to respond and before his
sisters could start fighting blurted out “Whacha got Willow?”“Willow brightened and the atmosphere became immediately less
fraught.“Uncle Dipper’s sleeping on the couch and then he
coughed and look what came out!”She brandished an old looking hand mirror, the glass a deep
blue-black and the backing and handle a tarnished gold. There were weird
designs carved into both the back and on the handle, but the triplets didn’t
notice. As one they chorused “Deep Aqua Mirror!”A month or two ago, when all three of them were sick with
the flu, Mommy had bundled all of them up into her and Daddy’s bed and together
the four of them had watched through two seasons of one of Mommy’s favorite
cartoons, Sailor Moon. Since then they had seen every episode, from both
versions of the show- Hank and Willow preferred Crystal while Acacia liked the
original better.Sailor Moon was their new favorite game to play and they
spent hours running around being the scouts and saving the day. Hank, his
sisters had imperiously decided, was obviously Sailor Moon, something he had no
problem with. Acacia was usually Sailor Jupiter and Willow Sailor Neptune which
brought them back to-“We probably shouldn’t play with it,” Hank muttered and the
three of them were quiet for a minute. They were well aware of who and what
Uncle Dipper was. Just as they knew in their bones that Uncle Dipper loved them
more than life itself, they also knew that Uncle Dipper could be dangerous and
they had to be careful around him. And the neat stuff he bought into the house
with him.However wiser, warier, and worldlier the triplets were over
people their age they were still only seven.“I think it’ll be fine!” Acacia said and they started to
play.A few minutes later, as Willow raised the mirror to attack,
Hank noticed something.“That’s not my face in the Aqua Mirror,” he said quietly. He
looked at Acacia. “I though you said it’d be okay?”Acacia turned to Willow who shrugged, still holding the
mirror.“It doesn’t have colors so it’s not like that sword Grunkle
Stan brought home with a person inside.”Hank had continued to study the face in the mirror.
“Guys, I think it’s me. As a grown up.”
Immediately all three of them clamored around the mirror.
Indeed, there was a grown up version of Hank, eating ice cream with a shorter
woman who was wearing the most awesome cherries and skulls dress ever. Behind
them a pretty lady with a blue Mohawk was scowling.Willow shoved Hank a bit so she could get a better view and
suddenly-“It’s me!” As they watched a grown up Willow was busy
putting books on the shelf at the Library downstairs.Acacia practically pushed her siblings out of the way to get
a turn and screamed gleefully as her older self appeared, covered in paint and
chewing on the end of a paintbrush.Willow put the mirror down and the three of them looked at
each other in awe. They had a new game to play.They took turns passing the mirror to each other, looking on
in awe as their older selves played with their own kids, drove, ate ice cream in
the morning, and so on.But then things got darker. Willow, wreathed in flames,
screaming in rage. Hank, limping, a cane in his hand and an attacker behind
him. Acacia, a mad, terrible grin on her face, covered in blood and missing an
eye.It was scary and Hank was beginning to cry and Willow’s
hands were shaking, and yet they couldn’t stop passing the mirror around,
completely trapped.As Acacia passed the mirror again, she saw blood on her hand
and that’s when she screamed. Uncle Dipper suddenly burst into reality in their
room. He quickly plucked the mirror from Acacia, chucking it in his top hat
before grabbing all three of them and frantically looking them over. He licked
Acacia’s hand until the cuts that had come from the mirror disappeared, and
touched his forehead to Willow’s, doing something that the other two couldn’t
see but knew it had to do with colors. In a few minutes they would be in
trouble, they knew, but for now everything was right in their world again.(He really needed to start putting artifacts in his hat
instead of his stomach.)7. Small Plastic
DinosaursHe hadn’t thought much about Mabel offering him two gallons
of Mabel Juice in exchange for a few hours of physicality, only chugged the
juice in one go, and then burping loud enough to shake the Shack to its
rafters.Now however, looking at the plastic dinosaurs in his hand he
had spent the past hour coughing up, he wondered how exactly Mabel survived
drinking her own concoction daily.
Prompt: flowers
likesuitcase-deactivated2018083:
“Uncle Dipper, Uncle Dipper!”
He turned just in time to be tackled by a small, redheaded figure. They crashed to the floor, Dipper cushioning Willow’s landing, before she looked up at him, smiling widely.
“Look what I got you!” She thrust a bundle of wildflowers toward him, all bright colors, loud and happy. It reminded him of the sweaters Mabel made. He took the bouquet gently, cradling it in his arms.
“Your colors are sad, so I wanted to make you happy,” Willow said before giving him a tight hug. Dipper smiled softly.
“Thank you,” he said into her hair, and he felt her grin into his shirt.
blood for tau prompts
likesuitcase-deactivated2018083:
I was going to do something culty and angsty for this, but honestly doing Zalgo on my phone is just too much effort right now, so have some fluff.
—
When she first walked into the kitchen, Mabel’s heart just about stopped.
That is, until the triplets and Dipper turned to face her, all very much alive and uninjured. They were covered in red, and for one terrifying moment Mabel had thought it was blood. Thankfully, however, upon further inspection the liquid was just a hell of a lot of food dye.
“Uh… welcome home?” Dipper offered her a sheepish smile, and she took in her surroundings more thoroughly. Ingredients littered every available surface, pots and pans were everywhere, and there was so much food dye dripping off her kids, Dipper, and various appliances that she would probably need a demon’s help to clean it up. It was a good thing she had one.
“Not that I’m not all for making a gigantic mess, but what happened in here? It looks like a cake exploded!” she said, stepping inside and assessing the damage. Dipper and the triplets eyed each other guiltily.
“We were gonna make you a cake cause you looked stressed out!” Willow burst out, stepping forward. “But Uncle Dipper didn’t really know how. Also a lot of stuff exploded.”
Mabel fought the urge to burst into a fit of giggles. “I can see that.” She walked forward, dodging a particularly large pile of flour, before enveloping her family in a bear hug. “I appreciate the effort guys. But you had better clean all this up, especially the sweater I have on that you guys are getting food dye on!” She shot a pointed look at Dipper, who cringed.
“We will, we will. Right guys?” He said, looked down at his neices and nephew. They nodded eagerly. Mabel smiled appreciatively.
“We love you, Mom!” Acacia said, smiling wide. Willow and Hank agreed happily, and Mabel’s smile only got bigger.
“I love you guys too.”
Prompt: Autumn
likesuitcase-deactivated2018083:
Dipper had always loved autumn. It was when the world started to quiet down, where everything slowed to a crawl. The earth was overrun with red and orange and gold and the air gained a chill that would perservere throughout the winter. Ever since the Woodsman had come into existence, however, Dipper had begun to love autumn for another reason.
Laughter echoed from the living room of the shack and Dipper followed it eagerly. He entered the room to find an exasperated Henry, an amused Mabel, and two of the three triplets in the midst of causing mischief.
Willow was cuddled up on the sofa next to her mother, who was knitting yet another sweater. Acacia and Hank, however, each hung from Henry’s antlers, which were corporeal for once.
Dipper smiled as he observed his niblings, and he leaned against the doorframe as he watched them play. His eyes were drawn to Henry’s antlers.
They were impressive things, but what really made one stop and stare in awe was what grew from them. The foliage would change throughout the year, and during autumn was Dipper’s favorite.
Leaves of varying shades of red and gold decorated Henry’s appendages, contrasting pleasantly with the white of the antlers themselves. Also hanging from them were berries–red and purple and blue, growing in bunches and scattered across Henry’s antlers.
The array was beautiful, especially to someone who loved fall as much as Dipper did. He sighed in contentment.
Life was good.
What do you think would happen if original, transcendence Willow met transdimensional Willow (Dipper’s daughter)?
After five minutes of comparing notes, both would conclude that Dipper in any universe is a big dorkus that needs a good pranking
Prompt if you want it: The triplets teachers have a parent meeting discussing some some very concerning (demonic but not really/eltrich horror ect) books on the kids book report list. Plot twist, it wasn’t Dipper that gave them the books, but Henry
Henry couldn’t help but smile a bit as he saw the three
sullen pre-teens sitting on a bench outside of the classroom. It amazed him how
much each of their personality shone through, how well he could read every one
of them.Acacia’s face was set to “murder.” Her eyes glistened
dangerously, and her cheeks and ears were bright red. There was a deep scowl on
her face, and her fingers were digging into her legs. Angry and wanting
everyone to know about it.Hank looked sad. No, not sad. Disappointed. Disappointed at
the actions of others. Disappointed at the world in which they lived. Arms and
legs tucked in and head resolutely down, looking as small and pitiful as
possible. A sadness, a weight, which could only be lifted by the teacher
pardoning him and his siblings. After all, his body screamed, surely this was
all a misunderstanding.Willow was impassive, still. Her eyes were locked on a point
on the wall across from the bench, her face neither scowling or happy or sad,
or showing any kind of emotion really. She could be taken for a statue if it
weren’t for her legs betraying her by occasionally kicking. Outwardly, Willow
looked the calmest of the three. At least, until you saw the way her fingers
were digging into her palms, the rapidness of her breathing.The fire in her eyes.
His feet made a noise and as one his children’s heads
snapped up, eyes locking on him. Three sets of lungs breathing suddenly in
time, hands held without any conscious thought.Triplets.
Henry laughed softly.
“Relax guys. You’re not in trouble this time.” They relaxed
and the dad in Henry made him emphasize, “This time.”As one, the looks on their faces went from triumph to
annoyance.—-
Mr. Tanner looked up as the triplets’ father came in. He
stood up from behind his desk and extended a hand towards the other man.“Thank you for stopping by, Mr. Pines-“
Mr. Pines smiled, a sweet, shy smile that surprised him
coming from a man of his stature. The triplets’ parent shook his hand, and
unlike most of the fathers who came in didn’t try and make it a hand squeezing
contest.“No troubles Mr. Tanner.”
Mr. Pines went to sit down and Mr. Tanner pretended not to
notice the trouble Mr. Pines was having as he tried to fold his large frame
into one of the desks. Seeing as Hank, and even the girls were beginning to
have the same troubles, Mr. Tanner made a mental note to raid the classroom
next door for better desks.Mr. Pines steepled his fingers.
“If I may ask, what is the problem with my children, Mr.
Tanner? I generally find them to be well behaved, but I also know that they
still get into trouble occasionally.”Mr. Tanner thought about the contents in the bottom of his
desk drawer and shuddered.“Mr. Pines, I am… concerned. About your children. And…..
potentially the environment they are in.”The face that sat across from Mr. Tanner was placid,
completely dumb, not confused or angry or upset just….There.“Go on,” he said calmly.
Mr. Tanner was uncomfortable. Why was that? He reached up
and adjusted his collar before going on.“The children all asked to do the same book for their book
report, which I had no problem with-“ Something made him add, “Honestly, I
didn’t mind at all.”(why? What was it in this stranger’s eyes that compelled him
to say that?)The teacher went on. “However, I grew concerned immediately
when I saw their selection.”“Which was?”
Just thinking about it brought a flush to Mr. Tanner’s face.
“The… The ‘Dartimeus Trilogy’,” Mr. Tanner said in a hushed
tone. “It’s been banned across the country for its positive portrayal of demon
summoning. It makes it look…. look… look easy!”“Well, generally it is,” Mr. Pines pointed. “That’s what
makes it so dangerous.”Mr. Tanner frowned. Perhaps the parent wasn’t appreciating
the danger of the situation.“The book is from the point of view of a demon Mr.
Pines!”Mr. Pines shrugged. “Good. That means the kids know what to
look for. Once again, don’t see the problem here.”“I… Mr. Pines-“
“Please. Call me Henry.”
Mr. Tanner sighed. “Henry. You seem very blasé
about this but I am genuinely concerned about your children. I believe they
have fallen under the influence of demonic forces.”“From reading a book?”
Mr. Tanner sniffed. “Come now Mr. Pines. Your family runs an
occult library. You should know very well what dangerous knowledge is contained
between the pages of a book.”“I am quite aware of that, yes.” The other man’s voice had
grown colder. “I’ve read most of the books at the house, as well as what we
have at my workplace.”Had the room grown colder as well? Was that a glint in Mr.
Pines’ eye? An inhuman glint? Was he slowly losing his marbles?“How long have you been in town, Mr. Tanner?”
The teacher started at the non sequitur. “Um, about two
years now. Why?”Henry stared at him for a long second. Mr. Tanner felt like
the triplet’s father was weighing his soul, judging him and finding him
wanting. Sweat began to pool at the base of his throat. Perhaps it was this man
that had begun to indoctrinate his children into the dark arts? Oh god had he
invited in some warlock or cult master?The other man took off his glasses and began to clean them. Finally
he said, “I believe you should call your colleague at the elementary school,
Mrs. Robinson. She had… similar misconceptions about the triplets once, and I
believe she will do a more convincing job of dispelling your doubts than I even
could. I’ll leave her number for you before I go.”He held his glasses up to the light, frowned, and continued
to clean them. “Secondly, I know you mentioned in school suspension for the
children, but I will have you know that I was the one that recommended that
series for them to read.”“I… what?”
“And furthermore, if there were books you didn’t want your
students to read you should have told them up front.”Henry put his glasses back on and looked at Mr. Tanner. “While
I certainly don’t have a problem with my children being disciplined at school,
in this case I believe it is entirely unmerited. You will drop the suspension.”Hazel eyes speared him mercilessly, and Mr. Tanner found
himself weakly saying, “Yes. Of course.”Then Mr. Pines surprised him a final time by smiling.
“Don’t worry, I’ll let them know this is a one time thing. I
don’t want to undermine your authority in the classroom after all.” A brief
shadow crossed over his face. “I just don’t believe in undeserved punishment.”Mr. Pines got up and extended his hand. Mr. Tanner weakly
did the same.“I’m so glad we had this discussion,” Mr. Pines said.
“Yeah, me too.” Mr. Tanner weakly replied.
After the other man gave him a business card with a phone
number on it and left, Mr. Tanner collapsed behind his desk, feeling like he
just ran a marathon.What in the world had he just gotten into?
backup 