With a bright, red marker, Ford crossed out the previous day's box on the calendar. The square for the next day, June 15, was circled to emphasize its monumental importance. There were only fifteen hours before the next day began, which would undoubtedly stretch on for an eternity.

Meanwhile, Stan did not bask in the anticipation, as he was tucked away in a pile of unpacked duffel bags on his side of the room. He rifled through them, tossing their contents every which way. "Have you seen my sock anywhere? I lost one."

Ford sighed. "Where was the last place you saw it?"

"If I remembered that, would I be asking you?"

"Does it matter? The big news right now is our birthdays tomorrow! We'll be real, official teenagers," said Ford. He couldn't wait for midnight of their birthday to strike, and planned to stay up to watch the clock count down the final minutes. "This is huge. It's like the beginning of the rest of your life! Things are going to change. People will finally start taking us seriously. Maybe we'll even get taller!"

"I know, but did you ever think about how this is pretty much our last day to be a kid? That has to count for something. We've gotta do something big to remember today by," replied Stan.

"I know! What about the one thing we've always wanted to do?"

"Look for treasure!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Do you think we really could do it?" Stan wondered aloud.

Ford picked up the journal and began flipping through the pages. "After the things we've seen here? This is the one place it might actually be possible."

He continued to scan the journal's pages. With everything described in there, it would be a surprise if there wasn't a secret treasure map somewhere. True to his suspicions, he discovered a possible option in the early pages and stopped on that selection.

"I found something," said Ford. He read the journal page out loud. "The Lost Lagoon. True to its name, I happened upon it while lost in the river that runs through the woods. Well, I found the sign, at least. It told of the greatest lost treasures being held in there for anyone who dared continue, but only people who were just as lost as the things inside could see it. It's a shame I was never able to discover it. Beyond the sign, I couldn't see anything but the rest of the river. I found my way back home eventually. I still don't understand why the lagoon was never made visible to me even though I was having difficulty getting home from the woods, however. Consider this unexplained."

"That's it?"

"That's all that's written here."

"Well, now that you mentioned it, we have to go check it out. It said all the lost treasures in the world were in there. Think about it, Ford. It'll be the best birthday present ever. Even if it is from ourselves."

Ford laid a finger on his chin, deep in thought. "I wonder what caused this to exist at all. Maybe if we wander around long enough, we'll get to research it."

"Who cares about the research? It's treasure."

"I do! Not even the author was able to see this place, and I want to add to his findings." Ford snapped the journal shut. "Since we're so new to town, maybe we'd have an easier time finding it."

"I can't believe we're actually going to do this," said Stan, whose smile went from ear to ear.

"I know! Let's get started," Ford replied, voice rising in volume. "Wait, where are we going to get a boat?"

Stan shrugged and said, "I didn't think that far ahead."

"Well, we might as well ask Grauntie Mabel," Ford replied before yelling down the steps. "Grauntie Mabel! You wouldn't happen to have a boat anywhere, would you?"

...

"So, I heard someone's birthdays are tomorrow," said Mabel as she led them around the Shack's back hallways.

"How'd you know that?" Stan asked.

"Oh, I have my ways. Are you doing anything for it?"

"I dunno. Probably when we get back to Jersey."

"Back in my day, I used to have the best parties. I'd have all my friends over and we'd be up all night! Too bad I haven't seen them much lately. I bet you miss your friends back home too, boys."

"Right," said Ford, gritting his teeth into a smile. Luckily, Mabel had reached her destination of a nondescript door ringed by cobwebs, effectively ending the conversation.

She swung the door open to reveal a storage room of sorts. "Whew! Nobody's been in here since forever. You can look through that stuff if you want. I think I remember there being a little canoe around here somewhere."

"Whoa, these dust bunnies are the size of my head!" Stan piped up.

The room was small and cramped, and it overflowed with forgotten things in every corner. Ford scanned the room, while Stan began to paw through boxes. After some time, their search proved to be successful when Ford spotted the corner of a tiny, wooden fishing boat sticking out from under a pile of cardboard boxes. "Stan, come look. I found something."

He dropped the box he was searching for and ran to the boat. "Now we're talking," he said, nodding in approval.

"What are we going to call this thing?" Ford asked as he pulled the boat out from under boxes of various knickknacks and cleared away the cobwebs clinging to everything. "I mean, it has to have a name. No self-respecting treasure hunter sets sail with a nameless boat."

"I vote we go with the Stan O' War again. We're getting as much mileage of that name out as possible."

"What's the Stan O' War?" asked Mabel.

Stan hung back and sized up Mabel, eyes flitting back and forth. "It's a boat. Our boat," he replied.

Stan showed no sign of explaining further, so Ford continued, "Last summer, we found this old, abandoned ship in a cave. We're gonna fix it up someday and sail around the world looking for treasure. Today is just the practice run."

"Well, that sure sounds potentially dangerous! Oh well. What's life without a little excitement? Have fun! Make sure to take a weapon. My grappling hook is on the wall. Use it wisely."

"Will do!"

"By the way, I agree on the name," Ford told Stan. "Wait a minute, wouldn't the name have a "II" after it since there's already a Stan O' War?"

"But the original isn't finished yet," Stan replied. "We haven't even taken her on the water yet. That boat should be the second one."

"But it was still the first one! There must be rules about this somewhere. I know! Since it's such an unusual situation, I have an idea."

When Ford shared the new idea for a name, Stan replied with, "It's perfect! Why didn't I think of that before?"

Thus, the newly named Stan O' War 1.5 was officially ready to go.

...

Soon after leaving the Shack, the boat had been taken out into the woods. After setting off into the river, they had taken every twist and turn possible to get as sufficiently lost as they could.

Ford skimmed through the Journal's pages and listened to the rhythm of oars slicing through the water, which came from Stan rowing the boat. He looked up from the book to see tree branches waving gently over him in the wind. He stuck a hand into the river to feel cool water slipping through his fingers. He was out living one of his dreams. By all accounts, he should be happy. Instead, the forest only felt hollow. The trees dwarfed him in size and there was nobody else in sight except for them. It was too quiet. At least when something had been trying to chase them down, there had been some excitement.

His thoughts drifted away from the treasure, the boat, or the tiny Oregon town to wonder about his hometown on the other side of the country. Did anybody in New Jersey even notice they were gone? Their parents would, but the few others who'd be considered friends probably never remembered their names. He'd talked to people in school sometimes, but most of them wanted to copy off his homework more than anything else. He hoped everything would change for the better once they were teens, but what if they didn't? He was still the same person, after all.

He had told himself that he'd be more open to new people in Gravity Falls, but what if they didn't want that? What if he was wandering and lost with few people even noticing?

Ford had his parents and Stan. For a time, he believed that they were enough and accepted that. At least, he thought he had. However, it still stung knowing he most likely wouldn't be getting any calls from friends on as important a day as his birthday. He expertly brushed it aside. Oh, well. He'd deal with that. Nobody else back home got to go hunting for treasure. He pulled his hand out of the water and sat up in the boat.

"Hey, Mr. Smart Guy, you have any idea where this treasure actually is, or are we just floating around?" Stan asked as they proceeded forward.

"The author didn't leave a map, but I have an idea. If we just get lost enough, we should find it eventually. You have to be patient."

"There has to be a treasure map here somewhere. All the movies have one."

"I looked through the entire journal. There isn't one. The author never made it this far. If there is one, which I'm not sure of, it might be near here instead."

"Wait. Never mind, I found something!" Stan exclaimed.

The expanse of river in front of it was covered with thick, white clouds of fog that obscured the area completely. Ford swore it hadn't been there a minute ago. A wooden sign had been haphazardly planted into the riverbank just before the first tendrils of fog would've reached it.

"You are now entering the Lost Lagoon. The greatest treasures man thought to be gone forever will appear here if you continue, but one must be as lost as the things inside to enter," Ford read out loud from the sign.

Tied directly underneath the sign with a bright gold ribbon, something glittered against the mud of the riverbank. When they were close enough to see it, he recognized that it was a glass bottle with a piece of paper inside. It was pristine, free from any sign of weathering or aging. He reached out and pulled it from under the sign, causing the boat to sway slightly. "It's a message in a bottle," Ford explained.

"Well, don't just sit there all day. Open it! Open it!" Stan chanted.

Ford pulled the cork off the top and retrieved the paper. He unrolled it to reveal a map of the entire Lagoon. It was intricately drawn and showed several paths that all lead to a large X in the center. The map, like the bottle it was found in, looked as new and clean as if it had been written yesterday, with not a spot of dirt or water damage to be found. He couldn't believe his luck to have found what they were looking for so easily.

Stan's jaw dropped at the sight of it. "This is way better than that time we found a dead fish chopped up on the beach."

As he studied the map, Ford had to agree.

'Welcome to the Lost Lagoon. If you follow this map carefully, you'll be on your way to finding every treasure that's been lost to mankind throughout history.'

The message was inscribed on the corner of the map in ink. "Interesting," Ford said as they pored over the map. "I wonder who wrote this."

'Consider this some help from a guide.' The previous message was erased and replaced with the current one, as if an invisible hand was writing it.

"What the-It changed? Didja see that?"

"It's right in front of my eyes, Stan. Also, it's probably enchanted somehow."

"Well, where does it say to go?"

"On the map, it looks like if we take two lefts once we get in there, and then a right at the next splits in the path, we'll be getting closer to the treasure. This place doesn't seem too big, actually," explained Ford as he studied the parchment. "This part of the map is circled, but I'm not sure why."

"So, the map...talks? Or writes or whatever? Is it bad that I'm starting to expect this stuff? Anyway, there's one way to find out what this thing means," said Stan. "I mean, we found it, after all. We're really here." He wasted no time in propelling the boat directly into the fog.