There were a pair of twins, living together in a house. The elder twins, were brothers, and legal guardians of the younger ones. They ran a tourist trap called the Mystery Shack together. Stanford, or more commonly called Ford, was in charge of creating attractions for the shop, while Stanley, aka Stan, was the el facto chief, the manager. The kids were their great niece and nephew, and had somehow fallen into their lap, and were stuck there.

There were a couple of teenagers who worked there as well. Wendy, the cashier, and Soos, the janitor, repairman, and plumber.

Dipper and Mabel were the names of the twin siblings. They never really got to know their parents. The older men were kind to the children, and did not make them work. They had a higher authority, and were able to go where they pleased.

It was on a hot summer day when they found the secret of Gravity Falls.

Dipper and Mabel both knew everything in the Mystery Shack was fake. There was no such thing as magic. They'd walked the forest many times, and there was nothing whimsical about it. At least, there hadn't been. But then Dipper fell.

"AHHH!" Dipper screamed, as he took a wrong step, and started to plummet. He rolled down a hill, and stopped, plunking into some ice cold cave water. He yelled, "MABEL! ANYONE?" He stated up the way he came, from which the only light seemed to come, just barely. But then the cave seemed to glow brighter. Dipper turned slowly, and saw a little triangle, floating there, looking curious. The boy jumped a little, shocked, but not afraid. "Hello..." he said, waving at it.

"Hey, kid. My name's Bill Cipher. I haven't had a visitor in so long..." the triangle said softly, staring at him with what seemed to be a smile in his eye.

"I'm Dipper, Dipper Pines... and, well, don't get too excited. I'm not here for long..." Dipper sighed and looked down. "Do you know the way out of here?"

"Now, why'd you wanna leave? You just got here... Come on..." Bill looked a little offended, and hurt.

"I know, but... Ugh..." He touched his arm, and realized he was bleeding. He had cut himself on the way down. "Oh, man. Oh man oh man oh man..."

"Hey, hey, it's okay, Pines... Here, let me help you." Bill Cipher began to cry, and the tears that fell on the wound healed it, instantly.

"Woah..." Dipper was brought back to reality. "Wait a minute, you're real? You're magic, and you're real..."

"As real as you are, kid." Bill nodded, smiling.

"Wow. Grunkle Ford will be so impressed! They both will!" Dipper grinned. "I knew magic was real!"

Bill looked at him sadly. "I can't leave here, Pine. I can't go anywhere. I can show you where the exit is, but you have to promise me that you'll come back before long. I... I need the company."

Dipper nodded. "I promise."

The boy was so excited. He skipped all the way home. "Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Ford!" Both ended up being busy. Stan was giving a tour, and Ford was creating a wax figurine from scratch before he lost his idea. Dipper found Mabel up in the attic. "Hey, Mabel, you'll never guess what I found!"

"Fairy treasure!" Mabel answered, grinning.

Dipper shook his head. "But you're pretty close. C'mon, I'll show you!"