Starfall

Chapter 10: Gaze

Marco pushed the bike down the road at the intersection. Soon he found a place where he felt it would be safe.

He walked on the road toward the town for a while. Cars passed him on the road, but Marco didn't want to hitchhike. Eventually a police cruiser pulled up beside him.

"Hey buddy. Are you ok?" said an officer in the passenger seat of the cruiser. A grey mustache stood out against his dark skin.

"Yeah. My bike has a flat."

The officer behind the wheel spoke. "Yeah. We saw a bike by the side of the road a few miles back."

"Hop in. We'll give you a ride into town." said the first officer.

"Thanks! That would be great."

Marco rode in the back of the cruiser. The officers said that it was late in the day, but he might make it in time to catch the repair shop before it closed.

Marco felt lucky. He would not have made it into town before it was late if the officers hadn't found him. He saw the town's name on a water tower. Gravity Falls.

It was after five when Marco was dropped off in front of the mechanic shop. He thanked the officers and called out to the mechanic. He caught him closing the garage door.

"Hello? Wait please!" Marco called.

"Just closing up, but what can I do for you? Don't suppose you walked all the way into town."

"Hi, yeah, no. My bike got a flat on the highway. It's at the end of the road at the turnoff. I could really use some help."

"Well, tell you what. I can't work on it right now, but I'll go pick it up and bring it back here. I'll work on it in the morning."

"Yes. Thank you."

Marco would be staying the night. The mechanic said there was a motel about two blocks away. It was nothing to write home about. Rooms were cheap at least.

==================================

There was nothing interesting on TV. Marco got restless in the room and couldn't relax. Around ten o'clock he gave up and went for a walk.

He went to the main street and walked about a few blocks. Then he saw an old fashioned neon sign. Bert's Bar. Part of the sign was burned out. The first two and the last two letters were the only ones that glowed.

Naturally he went in.

There weren't many people. Marco looked around and chose a stool at the bar.

Ever since the party right after high school, Marco didn't drink much. But he felt odd ordering a soda here so he ordered a bottle of beer. He sat and drank for a while, but nothing else caught his attention.

Marco wanted to talk to someone about the creature he saw, but the bar was pretty empty. Plus he couldn't think of a way to bring it up without sounding crazy.

The TV over the bar blared, "Are bears coming to eat you? An increase in bear sightings at local campgrounds has officials concerned. Stay tuned to find out! The Eleven o'clock News with Shandra Jimenez is next!"

An opening. Marco spoke obnoxiously loudly, hoping to be overheard. "Hey! I saw a bear today too!"

No response from the bar patrons.

"It looked like it had three bodies! Hope I didn't interrupt a bear orgy!" Marco cringed inwardly at his crass comment.

"Ha! You just saw Multi-bear!"