"Hey, sleepyhead, wake up!"

"No mom… five more minutes…" I groaned drowsily in my seat.

"Look, we're here!"

My eyes slowly opened and I finally saw the iconic waterfall cascading in the distance. I could feel my jaw drop as I finally was fully awake, "Woah…"

Gravity Falls.

"And somewhere down there is your father's old house…" My mom said, with me gazing out the window, my eyes beaming. It looked beautiful from the side of the cliff-road we were on that lead down to the town below. There was large patches of forest and trees everywhere, and the town itself looked like something you would only see on TV.

One question from curiosity got me distracted. "Hey mom, what's going to be our first adventure?" 'Adventures' mostly meaning my mom scouts a place out and when she finds something interesting, she comes back and brings me to said place.

She gave me a sly smile, which made me suspicious of what she was thinking. "Oh, you'll see~" She said in that sing-song voice. My mom often kept secrets from me, which made life with her interesting.

Once we actually arrived into Gravity Falls, I could not keep my eyes from looking outside. There was so much to see; forests, the two cliffs that I saw earlier that look almost identical, and all the monsters and legends I have heard and read in books. The Hide-Behind, the sea-monster that lived in the lake not too far from the town, the haunted pizzeria, and much more. My friends said back home said that they were just rumors and tourist-traps, who in reality brainwash people into staying there while slowly ripping out and eating their souls.

I never really believed them.

We drove along a dirt road, outside of the main town area. I looked around from the passenger seat, wondering where the house could be. I never seen it before nor have heard about my dad having an old house until now.

My mom was looking around as well. Most of the dirt road was just lots of pine trees, until a large clearing came into view.

"There!" My mom cheered to herself as I looked at what she found.

The house was not huge as in mansion-huge, but it was two stories high and had a wooden barn feel to it. I could easily walk around it less than three minutes.

We parked the car in the front, where I jumped out and was about the run towards the door to check the place out. "Hey, we got stuff to bring in, remember?"

"Oh… right…" I huffed and walked back to the car, grabbing two bags with each hand full of clothes, food, and other stuff that my mom has brought over for study.

Mom actually trolled me and while I was getting the bags, she ran to the door and walked in, exclaiming "I call dibs on the top floor~!" like the house was a first-come, first-serve thing. I rolled my eyes and carried a couple bags in.

"Oh ha, ha." I glared at her. "No dibs on anything."

"Oh come on!" She 'whined', rolling her eyes.

It seemed like I was the mother and she was the teen, which we just laughed at as she went back outside to get more luggage.

That is why I love having her as not only a mom, but the closest friend I have ever had. Not being afraid of acting younger for the sake of a good laugh.

When I excused the distraction and actually gazed around the house, it was eye candy to me. It was slightly smaller then I have imagined and from what it looked from the outside... maybe there were secret rooms around the place?

Wanting to get a good look around, I dropped my bags beside the door and made my way upstairs. There were two bedrooms on the top floor, (both very vibrant on colors, one being sky-blue and the other being a neon-orange), with one master bedroom in the bottom floor (I think my mom is going to call dibs on that next time I see her.)

My mom came in after the ten minutes have passed of me looking around the house. "Found anything interesting while I was bringing in all the stuff?"

I simply shook my head. "Mom, looking around the house is nothing like an adventure."

"It's alright... but I'm not too sure about that, sweetie..." Oh no, she had that grin again pasted on her face... but I knew better then waste time asking. It did get me curious of what secret she could be referring to.

Another thirty minutes pass before everything was put away and my mom set up her small "office" in the master bedroom.

Meanwhile, I am back up at the top floor in the orange-room. Both the rooms were identical except in color and the fact that the blue-room was empty of any furniture except a single, simple chair right in front of the window. Both were attic-sized, therefore quite small but, like the floor below, gave the illusion of space. Either that, or I needed to get my eyes checked.

That was when I found myself gazing out the window, daydreaming. I snapped myself out of it, shaking my head. That's weird... me dazing out does not happen that easily, especially while standing up.

"Crystal~" My mom called from downstairs.

"Yes?" I said, now peering over from the stair's railing.

"I was wondering..." she started with a smile, which raised many red flags in my head. "If you would want to search out the first adventure. I'll stay home and make dinner and it will be ready by the time you get back." Even though it was only about one in the afternoon, she knew me too well.

"R-Really?!" I stammered without realizing it, and my mom just laughed.

"Sure! You're sixteen, and I was sixteen when my dad let me explore the world on my own." She admitted.

She continued talking, but I was already too busy upstairs in my new bedroom to listen. Grabbing my camera from the bed, I practically flew down the stairs and out the door before my mom could catch me.

That is... unless something else startled me right when I stepped out the door.

"FLYING PIG COMING THROUGH!"


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