Chapter two The effect of shrooms

D "hey, sorry for blocking your bus. Can you give me a lift into town?"

BusDriver "Why would I do that."

D "I can pay double the ticket price, and the money will only go to you. You don't have to tell the company so you can pocket it."

BusDriver "and you have the money for that, do you." he's clearly sceptical and probably my sanity, but I don't know how far the town is.

D "yes." I pull out a small portion of the emergency money stored in my skiing jacket

D "how much."

Busdriver " 72 US" I don't bother to reply this time and hand him 110 euros. He gives me a pissed look but doesn't question me further.

I get further into the buss and hear some siblings arguing. The girl is clearly bored.

The pair of brunettes look up at me as I walk past. I look a real sight right now. I'm still covered in snow, holding the snowboard. Fuck, GOD could have given me a change of clothes.

I'm able to grab an empty row of chairs, and I start thinking about what I'm going to do as I pull out all the supplies in my bag. I have around 500 euros, so ill have to exchange that at the bank when I get into town.

I pull out my phone, the charge and the adapter I bought for it when I went on holiday. It should at least remain working even if I didn't find a sim for it in 2012. Plug sockets haven't changed in America, so ill still be able to charge.

I have my survival gear for snowstorms, although I'm not sure if that will be useful. I have a shovel, flare, locater beacon, and a few emergency rations.

Now the essential items. I have the skins, snow jacket and trousers: my beanie and the antifog goggles. Honestly, I didn't have much to my name before being dropped here.

Lifting my phone, I note down what I remember from gravity falls. I think Dipper and Mable were in the shack for about a week before Dipper was sent out to find the Book. Then there were the gnomes, an electric Nessy, Gideon and some ghosts. Dipper's manliness trial, the party where he clones himself...

I spend an hour writing down any event that pops to mind and all the triggers I can remember. I know if pioneer day comes along that Dipper and Mable will try and find the peanut brittle president. GOD, I wish that I had done a rewatch of this. There is going to be a lot of trial and error.

I'm thankful I bribed the driver to let me in, as it was a full 2-hour drive before we entered town.

The bus stop is thankfully empty, other than the passengers. So as Stan speeds away with the twins in the back. I keep my steps measured as I head toward the diner. Thankfully there are a lot of crazies in this town, so while people give me a second glance, no one pays too much attention to me as I make my way inside.

I spot a used table with empty seats. I sit down and start to go through the newspaper. Lazy susan comes up to ask if she can get me anything.

D " just tap water please." I feel like an ass, but I dought that she would accept foreign money. It was only the driver trying to make a quick buck.

The newspaper doesn't have much to offer. An article about two dogs going missing. Advertisements for various jobs around the town, including the mystery shack.

Lastly, there was an ad for a premium stay at a motel. Only 30 dollars a night. My doughts about whether it was premium on not didn't matter as it might be the solution to my housing problem. I let out another sigh. I hope I don't have to start from scratch on the next go. My wallet is virtually useless; my id will say I'm 12, and my debit and credit cards issued in the future.

I find myself the following day walking down a gravel track. We had arrived late afternoon yesterday, and while it gave me enough time to head to the bank and exchange my euros for USD, it would have been very awkward to go up to the mystery shack and 6 in the evening to ask for a job.

I did have a change of clothes in my backpack; unfortunately, it was only for a t-shirt and some joggers. I'll be honest, I don't even know why I had packed joggers in my back, so I'm stuck with these boots. But I'd still consider myself lucky.

The walk through the forest up to the mystery shack took me around 40 minutes, and it gave me a moment to feel what had changed. It was nice just to breathe. I wasn't being dragged somewhere. The red pines started to separate as the feeling of gravel underfoot turned into packed dirt. As the trees separated, my gaze fell on the clearing in the woods. In the centre sat a dark wooden shack. The massive sign on the top made it seem like the whole thing would collapse. The S of the shack was still in place. Then I remembered that it fell off while Dipper fought the wax figures.

I walked into the gift shop to see wendy faithfully handling the desk, magazine in hand, dirt-covered boats on the countertop.

D "Hey, sorry to bother, is the owner about." She looked up and seemed to look me once over. I probably still looked ridiculous. Black joggers, Water is God t-shirt, and my beanie and goggles resting on my head. They're a part of my personality, which keeps my glorious mane hidden.

W "Stan, someone is looking for you."

S "tell them he's not here right now."

W "what are you here for."

D "there was an ad in the paper about needing a labourer, artist and a handyman all for the mystery shack."

W "He's here for the ad in the paper. He's looking for work." after a moment, the Fiery redhead gestures, telling me to move into the exhibit room.

D "Hello, I am here for work."

S "yeah, I head wendy, now why would I hire you." his face really is leathery. He looks to be pushing 60 or 70.

D "I can lift heavy stuff. I'm pretty handy with tools and could repair most things. I'm pretty good at Art, specifically sculptures." I point towards the exhibits, but he doesn't seem impressed. What else...

D "I'll also work for cheap." He pounced on the comment.

S "How cheap are we talking."

D "under minimum wage. I'll do 6.50 an hour, and anything you say goes." He gives me a sceptical look, clearly looking for the Con. Soon he shrugs, money-saving instinct kicking in.

S "Well, I'm not one to overlook a business opportunity. You're hired."

D "when do I start."

S "you're here now." then he hands me the tub of glue he was holding and a bag of feathers and starts walking away.

D "when do I get paid." but he was already gone, out of earshot. Actually, he's probably choosing to ignore my comment.

I spent the rest of that day trying to bring the feathered snake to life. Honestly, I'm not sure where Stan got the skeleton for this snake, but it was Big. I had many colours of feathers, so I went for a feathered rainbow snake. This got me a look of appreciation from Mable, who loved the thing. It looked straight out of Aztek culture. For a joke, I labelled it the feathered serpent. It went over their heads, but who cares.

While I was building, Soos had to repair some lights in the Fiji mermaid's tank. Talking to Soos was fun. He's a very open person with some profound wisdom now and then.

He tells me about the mailman and how he does investigations to try and catch him in the act. I asked about some of his other investigations, and the day started to go a lot faster. The next few days though, pass very slowly.

My mornings are spent around the mystery shack. Dipper may have stumbled on the tree by accident, but I can tell which trees I've checked with this method. And remember, there are a lot of fucking trees and forests. So I stole some nails and a hammer from the shack and searched. Annoyingly two hours in the morning is not enough to explore an entire forest. So it will take me some time, but I have a week.

The tourist shack opens at 10:00, so when I get to the mystery shack, I have 2 hours in the morning with Soos to repair the exhibits before they open to the public. The rest of the day is self-explanatory, restoking the gift shop and fixing the displays in the back. The shelving doesn't happen super often. It's busier than the show lets on but not swamped for people the whole day. Credit to Stan, he is a successful con man. People drool over his exhibits, and I'm happy to say the snake has been quite popular.

This morning I'm back in the wood, the fresh air does me good, and I love the feeling of the moss-covered forest floor. Soos had invited me round to his house last night for dinner with his Abuelita. The diminutive older woman had a mean streak. Soos had reached for the food, 'before its time,' he got a wooden spoon to his hand, but that was just parenting. She seemed like a very kind grandma.

A "so Day dear, how are you enjoying gravity falls so far."

D "I haven't gotten to see too much of it; I don't know if Soos told you, but I arrived in town with not much to my name.

A "so where are you staying then." she sounded concerned.

D "I'm staying at the motel at the edge of town; they had an ad in the paper for cheap housing, so I took the chance."

S "Dude, you should come round in the evening more. We always have La Cena together, your welcome Dude."

A "Si, we would love the company."

after the meal, Soos and I cleaned up, just as I was about to finish...

A "mi Nino is very fond of you; if you would like, we do have a free room." I froze at that moment, I wanted to accept. But I am still British, so I really don't want to impose.

A "just think it over."

D "thankyou misses Ramirez."

A large woodpecker brings me back to the present. The mindless task of burying nails into trees has left me alone with my thoughts a little too often. I now only have a few days left before Dipper is meant to find the Book.

I'll get my first paycheck and then ask Abuelita if I can take the spare room. I think Soos would be happy anyway. My hammer came down again. Pained metal rings out through the Forrest, silencing the local wildlife.

I had found the Book.

The next thirty minutes were a frantic blur as I pulled out a blacklight I had prepared for this and my phone. I photographed every page front to back, even some empty pages, to make sure I hadn't missed anything.

Having skimmed the Book through, I know just the things that will help me in this world. The Persepshroom.

The day went very slowly again. Before I had returned to the mystery shack, I had grabbed all the nails I could find and a few of the mushrooms. They weren't tough to find. Eventually, I was free from the shack and rushed back to the Motel.

I sat in the middle of my room in the hotel. I bought a metal bowl for this, and I had a smooth rock in hand as I ground the mushroom into the jelly paste. It slowly turned from a purple mushroom to a galaxy jelly as I worked.

Gently I scoped a few fingers worth out. It was unnaturally cold as I applied it to my head. A prickling sensation came over the area as I lay back, it felt similar to deep heat cream. I needed to sleep for it to take effect. My thoughts drifted as I lay there. I wonder what my family thought happened to me. Luckily my thoughts didn't stop me from drifting off.

I awoke 2-hours later, very aware. It's not a feeling put into words. But, as I focused, I started to take in information astonishingly quickly. The world I perceived crawled along.

My focus turned to the objects around me in my room, and the possibilities of how to improve them came to me. When I looked at something, I saw all it was all it could become. The world in front of me was one of endless possibilities.

Logically in a small part of my mind, I knew there was a mushroom induced high along with the superintelligence.

Now, the second part of my plan. Sitting back down in front of the mushrooms, I start measuring and diluting the jelly. My old idea was to make this permanent. If I could limit the amount I ate and the delivery method, I could increase my brain capacity to be superhuman.

Now with my improved mind, the science was easy, but I was no longer satisfied with that. I could take it further. The world faded out of colour as I worked; my focus was removing all undeeded stimuli.

At some point, I ended up in just my boxers. I felt like it brought me closer to science; I think the cashier at the pharmacy disagreed. But I didn't care, right now, I was a mad genius.

Finally, my creation was done. I lay down on the bed; three bags of multi-coloured solution hung above me. Without looking, I could feel the tree needles those bags led to. Imbedded in my lower back, the top of my spinal column, and the last in the arteries that fed blood directly to my brain. Under my tongue rested a capsule. It was probably the most potent sedative on the market right now.

D "was I too hasty with this? GOD I hope not."

The pill explodes in my mouth as I'm dragged into unconsciousness.