The first thing I noticed when I woke up was how cold it was. Naturally, it was the dead of winter and I was in Oregon, so I should've expected the wooden floor to be freezing on my bare feet, but I yelped and hopped back into bed regardless.
"I guess I should put some shoes on..." I pulled on my socks and boots and went downstairs to get some breakfast.
"Mornin Mabel!" Melody greeted cheerfully, putting a plate of pancakes on the tabel before me.
"Good morning." I replied quietly, pouring syrup on my breakfast. Ford glanced up from his newspaper too look at me, then went back to reading.
"Didn't you wear that outfit yesterday?"
"I fell asleep reading." I explained. I looked up at the newspaper he was reading, scanning the headlines. "Monster sighting? Sounds cool, maybe we should investigate?" I offered, silently begging he'd say yes and reveal this whole thing to be some sort of joke.
"Monsters are a bunch of baloney. And please, don't go out looking for them. You might get hurt." I eyed Ford suspiciously.
"Looking for them? So what you're saying is they're real." He folded his newspaper and stood up.
"I'll be in my office." He disappeared through the gift shop door, leaving me to rest my head on the table.
"Don't get yourself too worked up, kid." Melody comforted, sitting beside me. "I'm sure Mister Pines knows what he's talking about." I stood up.
"Thanks, Melody. I'm gonna go for a walk." I grabbed my coat and opened the door.
"Wait! Can I finish your pancakes?"
"Go for it." I offered, beginning my trek. I only meant to walk along the road to town, but because the snow was so thick I decided to walk in the woods where there weren't any stupid people in cars.
After about ten or twenty minutes of walking through falling snow, I stopped and sat on a log.
I was furious at Ford for not being the man he claimed to be, but what was really bothering me was how Dipper wasn't here to make me feel better like he always did. To make matters worse, I had no idea how to get back to the shack with all the snow that had covered my tracks.
"This vacation is the worst!" I yelled in frustration, throwing a chunk of ice at a tree. I calmed down after the ice hit the tree with a metallic clunk. "Huh?"
I walked up to the tree, which was cold to the touch.
"It can't be metal, can it?" I slid my fingers along the trunk until I found a latch. Pulling it open to reveal a strange contraption.
I flipped the first switch, but nothing happened. Figuring it was broken, I flipped the second switch just for kicks, expecting it to be another dud, when I was surprised by a mechanical noise behind me.
I spun around as fast as I could, not immediately noticing anything out of the ordinary. I stepped slowly towards the log, going to sit back down, when my foot suddenly sank.
"Ow!" I yelled as I landed sideways on my ankle. I dragged myself out of the hole, pulling the boot off my right foot and dropping it. "Damn it." I cursed under my breath, looking at the swollen foot. I packed some snow around it, hoping to get the swelling down to the point where I could hobble home.
I reached down into the hole for my sock and boot, my hand brushing against leather. Assuming it was my boot, I grabbed it. I didn't notice it was too heavy to be my boot, the only thing I could really feel was my ankle. So of course I was surprised when I pulled up a book.
"Huh?" I examined the cover, the glistening six fingered hand with a three drawn on mesmerizing me. "Did Ford write this?" I knew Ford didn't like to flaunt around his sixth fingers, but who else could've written it? I flipped through the journal, drawings and findings on different creatures catching my eye. I flipped about halfway through the book when a certain passage caught my eye.
"I'm afraid my suspicions have been confirmed; I'm being watched. I must hide my findings before he finds them."
I glanced down to the bottom of the page, where the words Trust No One we're written boldly. Suddenly, I felt like something- or someone was watching me. I shoved the journal in my coat and grabbed my boot, shoving it on my foot without the sock.
I rolled onto my stomach and crawled over to a tree, using it as a support to help me stand. I staggered off, making it out of the clearing before falling on my face. Behind me- or was it above me?- someone sighed.
"Really Mabel, I thought you'd have more sense than to try to walk in a sprained ankle."