When Gravity Falls and Earth becomes Sky

Chapter 1

Everyone has a story, some have more chapters than others, and some end tragically too soon. Everyone has a story, including me. My story is complicated, however, as I'm not quite sure how it starts. My mother gave birth to me exactly 19 years, 72 days, and 8 hours ago. She named me (Y/N), after her distant high-school friend. Although I recall my birth, this isn't where the story begins. It starts way before then, even before the birth of my parents. It starts with my grandfather. I've never met the man, he disappeared when my father was about 7 years old, but I've heard a few stories. The most important thing I know about my grandpa was that I inherited his odd genetic anomaly. I was born with six fingers instead of five on each hand, which lead to a plethora of cruel nicknames all throughout school, but I never let it get the best of me. I was different, and that was good. Individuality was something many people struggled with, but not me. Never me. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Back to my grandfather— Stanford Pines. I've asked my dad repeatedly to tell me more about my mysterious relative, and he finally caved. He told me that he was most likely dead, he disappeared about thirty years ago in a little Oregon town called Gravity Falls. He also told me about a great uncle I had named Stanley, who was also dead, dying in gravity falls just like Stanford did. That was it, I knew what I had to do. I needed to go to Gravity Falls. There must be someone in that town who knew my grandfather and could tell me more about him.

This led me to where I was today, just stepping off of the bus that had taken me to Gravity Falls. I held my luggage by my side, taking in the surroundings. The smell of tree sap was heavy in the air, and the hot summer sun had made everything feel a lot more moist. No matter, I couldn't just stand there and worry about the sun, I had a mission to do. I needed to learn more about my family tree, why I was the way that I was. It wasn't just the six fingers that I wanted to talk about, I felt like there was something below the surface that I wasn't quite understanding. Something deeper than just some extra digits. I made my way into town, looking at each sign that passed. Along the way, I found a cute little diner called "Greasy's" that looked like it had been around forever. There must have been someone in there who knew something about Stanford. Gravity Falls was a small town, surely someone had to know him.

Pushing open the diner door, I stepped into the grease filled diner, the smell of sizzling bacon attacking my nostrils. My stomach grumbled, but I ignored it for now. I would eat later, preferably when I had access to something that wasn't drowning in butter.

"Welcome to Greasy's Diner!" I heard a woman say. I looked around until I saw where the voice came from. An enthusiastic older woman was smiling at me, holding a tray of food in one hand. She seemed sweet, but the only thing I could notice was her lazy eye, slathered with blue eyeshadow. My mother always said that blue eyeshadow was for 'women of the night'. "What can I do for you, honey?" The woman— who's name tag said 'Susan' on it— said to me.

"Oh, well, I'm doing research for uh... something, and I was wondering if anyone here knew anything about a Stanford Filbrick Pines?" I asked, taking a notepad and pen from the inner corner of my jacket. It may seem a bit nerdy to carry around a notepad all the time, but at least I was prepared. I watched Susan intently, hoping she could give me some sort of fulfilling answer.

"Stanford Pines? Oh, yeah, he should be at the Mystery Shack right now," she replied, the smile on her face was unwavering. My eyes widened a bit at this information. He was alive? And seemingly still in town?

"The Mystery Shack? He's alive— wait, where can I find the Mystery Shack?" I quickly jot down the address she gave me, a jolt of hope coursing through my veins. Would I finally be able to get the answers I was hoping for? My mom and dad rarely talked about our family, especially the Pines side. My great grandfather wasn't the peachiest, and his wife was a con woman. Stanley and Stanford where mysteries to me, but Great Uncle Shermie had a family of his own— and that's all I knew. After receiving the address to this so-called Mystery Shack, I bid the woman goodbye and raced out the door, navigating through the town until I found myself on a long dirt road with a little wooden house at the end of it. By the time I reached the shack I was out of breath, but just seeing the sign (which said 'Mystery Hack') I could feel my lungs rejuvenate themselves, getting hopped up on adrenaline and nerves.