against reality | gmw

Gravity Falls

"Gravity Falls? Seems... odd," Lucas read off the large and rickety sign that stood by a hair on the bridge. "Riley, don't you sense the weirdness in this?"

"BARELY! This place looks fun and colourful! LOOK! It's a pig!" Riley jumped up and down at the sight of her uncle's shack.

"Uncle Eric!" she ran up to and hugged her crazy uncle, who'd been sporting a suit and blue fez. "It's great to see you."

"Hey, Eric, glad you're not dead," Lucas laughed. Here's something that way rather touchy for the Pines' family to discuss. Lucas was not exactly born a Pines. He was a Friar. He was adopted.

"Lucas, my boy. Welcome to Gravity Falls, children. I've got some news for the both of you. You'll be working at my business, the wonderful Mystery Shack!" he gestured towards the hut behind his tall figure. "Go all the way up to the attic and start unpacking. You start work right after that."

"Ugh. Riley, could you help me with the — Alright then. I'll carry all the luggage," Lucas dragged his sister's trunk up towards the messy, old shack.

-

"Alright, Uncle Eric. We're ready for work!" Riley hopped down the stairs and ran to the shop where Eric was standing.

"Hey, Josh! It's been forever, my man!" Lucas bro-hugged Josh over the counter.

"Sorry, who are you?" Josh took off his headphones. "I'm Josh. Nice to meet you."

He reached out his hand, expecting a handshake, but Lucas stormed off into the woods.

"Hi, Josh. I'm Riley. That was Lucas. Why can't you remember him? Is something wrong?" Riley pulled a chair and sat by Josh at the counter.

"Not at all, Sunshine. He doesn't seem to be my friend anyway. All I know is that I have other friends and for a really long time. I could possibly introduce them to you, if you and your brother would like."

She nodded her head and flashed a great big smile, "That would be wonderful."

-

"Why can't he remember me? I don't understand! He was my best friend, my mentor when he lived in Piedmont. Then we moved to New York, and he moved here, and suddenky he doesn't know I exist anymore! Something's weird about Gravity Falls and I intend to find out!" Lucas punched hard on a tree. His hand was wounded, but something more interesting about this specific tree caught his eye. "Is that, rust?"

The clunk of the metal in the tree didn't help, either. He tried to pry the trunk open, but to no avail. Although he seemed tough and strong, his scrawny arms barely got him to clinb the tree and reach for the branch that was a bit more brown than intended. As he pulled it, the compartment opened revealing an old, dusty journal. Its cover was a soft, red leather material. Each corner of the front and back cover was detailed with a rusty metal quadrant. Smack in the middle, a gold-painted piece of aluminum foil. On it, a large number "3", with ink fading and all.

"What the..." Lucas dusted off the book, flipping open to one of the pages. "Gnomes? Zombies? Trust no one."

Just as he flipped back to the first page, the introduction of the authour, his sister jumped up behind him.

"HELLO!" his shock caused him to tear off the page accidentally, dropping it into the puddle beside him. As its ink was already old, the words were barely legible.

"Thanks a lot, Riley. What do you want anyway?" he stood back up and dusted the leaves and dirt off his shorts.

"Well, first of all, what book are you reading? Some nerd thing? Secondly, better head back to the shack! Josh said he was going to introduce us to some of his friends!" Riley chirped happily, skipping back into the forest, following the trail back to the Shack.

"I'll read you later, Journal. For now, you'll be safe in my vest," he walked away, slotting the book into the large pocket in his dark blue vest.

-

"Riley, Lucas! These are my friends, Maya and Farkle," Josh gestured to the blonde girl and brunette boy. "Otherwise known as Ms Popular and Mr Psychic."

"I'm Maya. Nice to meet you, Rosie, Leslie. My parents own Northwest Mansion, right upon the Northwest hill. That's right, my family owns  a quarter of Gravity Falls. Soon, your crummy old place will be mine as well. Top that, Pines!" she high-fived Josh and Farkle, who were both much taller than the petite rich girl.

"Pleasure to meet you, Riley and Lucas Pines. I go by the name of Gleeful, Farkle Gleeful. Excuse my best friend's evil nature. She has the looks, I have the brains. It's a, teamwork."

"Then what is Josh, in this group?" Riley questioned.

"You have the face, you have the brains. The distraction, and the idea. Now, you need the execution," Josh explained. "Since we're doing introductions, hi. My name is Joshua Corduroy. I'm 15 years old, I have a family of lumberjacks, and I work at the Mystery Shack to get away from my mother and sisters' crazy habit of constantly chopping everything that is still in wood form."

"You're a very colourful person, Josh," Riley smiled. "MY TURN!"

"I'm Riley Pines. I'm 12. I'm a city girl and I like cats," she chuckled, nudging her brother in the shoulder. "Your turn!"

"I'm Lucas Friar-Pines. I'm 13," he walked over to Maya and carressed her cheek. "And I think you're the most beautiful thing my eyes have ever seen."

The moment she rolled her eyes, he felt a hand  pull him back by the collar of his shirt.

"Smooth, Luke, but Maya's mine, thank you very much," Josh winked at Lucas and smiled.

They stayed in silence for mere minutes, before Riley decided that the tension seemed to grow by the second.

"Soo... I know who you are now and a bit of your personality," Riley started, but was rudely cut off by Lucas.

"I agreed to travel from California to Gravity Falls by bus without even knowing where it was, for one reason. I was promised an experience I was never gonna forget. I know there are secrets this town never imaginefmd they needed to encounter. When's our next adventure?"

okay i am really excited to announce that i will be starting a new book!! it will be called gravity falls, and what you've just read is the prologue of the book. i hope you have enjoyed this, but i wont be posting for a while. be sure to check out gravity falls, ill try to post the first chapter by nov 12.