CHAPTER FOUR
"Pa was angry when Stan confessed, but I think a small part of him appreciated the honesty. I guess I'll never know." – Ford Pines
Wednesday, November 2, 2016. 7:20 AM. Tijuana, Mexico.
"Well, what do you know, the sun has already long risen!" Ford exclaimed as he pulled open the curtains.
"Huh? What?" Stan shot up in his bed, woken by the sudden bright light.
"Heh, I'm talking to myself again," Ford said. "A habit I developed in the years of solitude back when I was studying the mysteries of Gravity Falls on my own. Anyways, slept well?"
"Were you up all night?" Stan rubbed his eyes. He reached for his glasses and put them on.
"Not exactly. I went to bed around 1 AM, and got up again at 4 or 5. Can't waste much time sleeping around with so much of my catalogs needing organizing."
Stan let out a small mumble as he scratched his back.
"I just had the weirdest dream," Stan commented.
"Really? Let me guess; was it related to the Day of the Dead?"
"Yeah. How did you know?"
"I've heard reports of people in Mexico having Day of the Dead-themed dreams the night of the actual Day of the Dead. Most of them passed their dreams off as coincidences. Though I beg to differ."
"Why is that?"
"Well, in the past two months, I have found enough clues to conclude that a parallel realm inhabited solely by the dead exists right here in Mexico. And I have no doubt this is where the deceased spirits that come to their living relatives on the Day of the Dead reside. I was just studying this, actually, in the past several hours, reviewing what I found – stories, physical evidence – and making connections. In fact, now that I think of it, I can actually recall one or two tales of someone actually stumbling into the realm, and coming back out alive. I'll have to check my books again. I'm sure I reviewed them as I was doing my study on the entire subject."
"Must make for an interesting tale. I heard some film studio – forgot its name – not too far away from where Dipper and Mabel live is making a movie centered right on someone actually stepping into the Land of the Dead. I think it's coming out next year or something."
"Anyways, I think your dream may have been the result of leaking energy from the Land of the Dead. It tends to happen around the evening of November 1 – Dia de los Muertos. The leaking energy could in turn have been prompted by the large number of souls entering the living world to see their relatives. And I believe that these souls have the power to enter the mindscape of their living relatives – hence why some end up having dreams involving them, complete as skeletons and often involving marigolds."
Stan sat up straighter in his bed. He stroked his chin – a habit he picked up from Ford. "Huh. I don't suppose…"
"Suppose what?" Ford asked. "Who is the relative you encountered, by the way?"
"Well, actually…I had a dream where I ran into Shermie, our older brother. And he led me to…Pa."
"Oh dear. I wonder how that has turned out," Ford's face suddenly became more serious.
"It was quite intense at first. But in a rather sudden twist…Pa apologized for what he had done to me. For his harsh treatment of me growing up…that him treating me as dirt, was a mistake…he admitted to regretting throwing me out of the house. He even called me his son!"
Ford's eyes widened. "Whoa. That is…quite unlike Pa. I can't ever recall a time where he was sorry for what he did."
"Me neither. He's an arrogant fellow; the last thing he wants to hear is other people pointing out his flaws. And that's why, no, I don't believe his spirit actually came into my mind," Stan passed off. "Knowing that old codger growing up, I doubt he would ever be sorry. He seemed pretty proud of how he raised me, if you ask me."
"Well, you never know," Ford suggested.
"Funny, that's the same thing Shermie said to me in my dream. Also not to mention, I was taken back to Glass Shard Beach. We were literally there just several months ago. Maybe it was more so the visit than spirits actually entering my head that caused my dream."
"Well, I've heard only minimal details on how the Land of the Dead looks like, but one thing I have found in common among the dream stories I came across is that the setting is always the dreamer's hometown. And it usually involves making amends for problems that the living and deceased relatives have yet to solve before the deceased, well, died. The deceased normally can't directly interact with the living, so they use the mindscape instead. Unless of course a living being entered the realm, but that's a different story."
"I still don't think Pa really entered my mind," Stan remained unconvinced. "Now I know I've seen so much these past few years – but if there is one thing that I know for sure isn't real, it's Pa regretting what he has done to me. I bet that dummy had a huge smile on his face when he found out about my 'death' in my fake accident. Also, I highly doubt Pa would choose to live in the Land of the Dead here in Mexico. And it seems to me that only spirits who actually live there have the ability to enter their relatives' minds."
"Well, I've encountered all sorts of ghosts in Gravity Falls, and together, we met many more in the various places we have been. All of them have been living at some point. We've hunted many of the usual these past couple months in Mexico, but all of the dead here in general also seem to have a unique ability we didn't find elsewhere: the ability to enter their relatives' minds and present themselves in the form of skeletons, and only on the Day of the Dead. But there is still so much to deceased souls in general that we just don't know about. Maybe Pa doesn't live in the Mexican Land of the Dead, but because of the existing energy here, he found a way to enter your mindscape in the same way the others do. Or maybe all deceased souls have a way to enter the mindscape. I'll have to look deeper into that."
"What about the Dream Hipster? Category 9 ghost, as I recalled?"
"Yeesh," Ford shuttered. "I do not want to relive his taunts. Though yes, the particular one I encountered would qualify as one who could enter minds. I don't know who he was when he was alive, or how he managed to enter my dreams – assuming dead souls in general don't enter minds."
"All good to know, but I stand by my ground that Pa most certainly did not communicate with me in the dream I just had. To him, I'm as dead as he is. Can't think of anything else that may suggest otherwise," Stan got out of his bed and did a few stretches.
"Again, the supernatural realm is big and powerful. The spirits of the dead are just one powerful group whose ways have many mysteries – too many to investigate in our living lifetime."
"I guess we'll never know everything, at least as long as we are still living. And besides, I think this is one 'mystery' that I'm willing to leave unsolved for now," Stan shrugged as he went to the closet and took out his clothes. "Now come on, let's go have breakfast. I'm starving."
All quotes are from the story "The Pines Boys in: The Jersey Devil's in the Details", part of the Gravity Falls: Lost Legends graphic novel.
Gravity Falls was created by Alex Hirsch and produced by Disney Television Animation. All characters and related media belong to Disney.