Searching for A Pine Needle in A Forest

Jack had shoved aside thickets and wandered through miles of Gravity Falls backwoods all night into the day. Until he was forced by other volunteers to rest. His eyes shifted from one shadowy pine to another, and he paced the muddy clearing for so long that he was wearing a circular trench under his boots.

Blind Blooper was just as restless as his owner to find Lily. He was tethered to a tree next to a couple of tents, and he kept sniffing the perimeter, searching out the scent of the missing grand-niece.

While other volunteers called names and tossed beams of flashlight into the darkening pine woods, Jack skulked, waiting for someone to release him and his hound from the volunteer camp. He only got a freckly college student by the name of Simon, who handed him a cup of coffee and informed him that he should rest for the night and if they hadn't found the kids tonight, that he would be able to search again in the morning.

Jack all but burst a vein in his forehead. "She can't wait til tomorrow! I have to find her now!"

Surprised, Simon tried to reason with him."Sir, if another volunteer finds her, she'll be fine. And you've been searching all day. You should just rest and wait until tomorrow. "

"I should find her, is what I should do! We don't have time! What if she's injured? Or sick? Or cold or thirsty? She could die, and you want me to sit here and wait for someone to hopefully find her?"

Other volunteers looked on at the elderly man screaming at the flustered college student.

"What's his problem?" asked Nate.

"I dunno," replied Lee. "Something about him finding his wife or something."

"That ain't Old Man McSuck It yelling at him, is it?"

"That old geezer is terrifying him. Poor guy."

"Status update," typed Tambry. "Watching a college kid getting yelled at by a crazy old man."

Embarrassed, Simon tried all the more to calm him.

"Sir, I understand that you're scared for her, but there's only so much that one can – "

"Then I'm not tryin' hard enough – get me back out there!" He threw his coffee mug to the mud. "You tell them to let me back out there, or I'll just leave myself with none of your permission!"

Another volunteer higher up in the ranks named Bud Gleeful stepped into the muddle. "Now gentlemen, gentlemen, why all this commotion? We should settle down, because we need to rest up so we can – "

"You rest up! I'm blowin' this joint!" He stomped off to grab his hound, but Bud got in front of him.

"Now hold your horses there, my good man," Bud said, speaking in his salesman voice and guiding away as though from a bad deal. "I know you're anxious and all that, but we got rules here to follow."

Seeing that the situation was probably contained, the volunteer searchers scattered about to their previous activities. None giving second thoughts to the old man concerned for his niece's life.

Bud continued to lecture Jack."We can't just have an elderly man like yourself leaping through those woods all night long without any energy. If you want to be of better use you need to save some of that fire for tomorrow. Now why don't we sit down, and have ourselves a nice long – "

"I know what I am, and it's more than just some old geezer!" Jack slapped Bud's forcefully guiding hand from his shoulder. "I'm a father! Don't you get it?! I promised to find her! I promised her grandfather, but not only him – I made that promise to myself. Are you jest going to take that away from me too?"

Bud and Simon gave Jack some space to yell, almost fearful of the man's rage. But the torrent of fury bubbled down to a trickle of sad frustration.

"My brother is dying. Once he's gone, that girl is all I'll have left in the world."

Jack was near tears. "Don't you see? I have to find her. I just have to find her. She needs me. She needs me …"

"Why are ya botherin' the poor guy?"

Can of Pitt soda pop in his hand, Stan finally stepped forward to address the issue. "He's lookin' for his lost family, something more precious than anything you'll ever earn. That's his niece out there fighting for her life. And if he wants to save her, you better let him."

Bud and Simon respectfully backed out of his way as he approached his old friend. Stan lay a hand on Jack's shoulder, and gave him a knowing look. "Nothin' gets between you and your family. Nothing."

Jack smiled for the first time in hours.

"Besides, you gave this old nut three cups of dark coffee. He'll never calm down with that in his system."

Jack laughed for the first time in hours.

"I'll go with him," Stan offered. "That's my nephew out there, and he's got a sister at home worryin' over him. We gotta bring 'em home."

Simon paced toward the tree where Blooper was tied, and undid the knot of his leash. Within moments, the old friends were racing back into the woods, casting flashlights in the darkness that emerged like a bruise across the landscape.

Owls hooted and unseen creatures scrambled and scuttled from the sound of the men's voices and feet trampling twigs. Blooper snuffled furiously through leaves and pine needles. As a breeze blew downwind, he lifted his head and snuffled the air. He caught scents of pine sap, deer, gnomes, but nothing of Lily or Dipper. Something fluttered in a tree, and Blooper searched for the source, perking his droopy ears as high as he could. But the sound was only a crow flying into another tree for repose. He dropped his head and continued to search with his nose.

The forest was soon engulfed with night. The calls of volunteer searchers echoed eerily as they slowly traveled farther and farther away into the wilderness. Shadows deepened from slate blue into black holes, swallowing up every colorful and living thing in their empty maws.

But as foreboding as the setting felt, Jack and Stan plunged headfirst into those shadows, undeterred. Nothing was stopping them.

Wait for me, prayed Jack. I won't let you get hurt. Not again. Never again! I'm coming! Daddy's coming …

GDGGB! KXUUB, GDGGB! KHOS PH! GDGGB!

A/N Hey guys! I'm really sorry for the unintended hiatus! I never intended it to go for so long. School, writer's block, holidays, and so many other things had me occupied. So to make up for it, I'm going to try to post a chapter everyday til New Year's. And if I happen to have something more to write after, I'll post into the first week of January. Ill try to continue to post at least a chapter a month like I've done before, but I'll try not to keep you guys waiting because I know that you've really enjoyed reading this story, and I've enjoyed writing it. Thank you so much for your patience, and please keep your New Year's Resolutions this year.