June 18, 2016

As Dipper, Mabel, Pacifica, and Wendy hiked through the dense forest of Gravity Falls, Mabel's nose caught a whiff of a delightful aroma. One that reminded her of her Mom back in California - baked goods! She instantly turned in the direction of the smell and followed her nose. Dipper and Wendy quickly realized her sudden distraction,

"Mabel, what the heck are you doing?!" Dipper yelled.

"We need to stay as a group!" Wendy scolded.

"Don't go off-trail either!" Pacifica added. Mabel turned to them,

"Relax guys. I'm just following the smell of baked bread, buns and…" she sniffed, "Gasp! Cinnamon Rolls!?" She giddily exclaimed.

She then ran in the direction of the smell. Dipper and Pacifica both sniffed, and didn't smell anything. Dipper pulled out the map and found their location. He then looked west of their position and saw that there was a small clearing that was likely where Mabel was heading to. Dipper sighed,

"I'll go after her. Mabel!" He began pursuit.

"Wait for me!" Pacifica called out as she ran after Dipper. Wendy rolled her eyes and walked in their direction.

As Dipper continued to chase his sister, he was also eventually met with that same smell. The two eventually came to the clearing to see that the Oregon Parks Department had set up tents in the area. The stuff inside the tents varied from people selling random knick-knacks, to tents with ovens hooked up to generators with the people selling the baked goods. Above the tents stretched between two poles was a banner that read,

"Oregon Parks Dpt. Confiscated items Sale/Bake-off. Please buy this junk." Pacifica caught up, panting and then saw what the two of them were looking at.

"What's this?" She asked.

"Look," Dipper pointed at the banner.

"Huh. So this is what all those posters in town were advertising," She then sniffed, this time she smelled what Mabel had.

"Mmm. Smells delicious. Let's check it out," She suggested.

"Yes!" Mabel blurted. Dipper grabbed the collar of her sweater,

"Hold on, we should wait for Wendy." She then called out from behind them,

"It's fine! I'll catch up!" Dipper glanced backwards and could see Wendy slowly making her way toward them. He let go of Mabel's collar and the three of them began to explore the place.

Mabel bought a bag full of one of every baked item they had for each of them, plus two extra for Soos and Melody, Wendy got herself a new axe, and Pacifica had bought a gift for Dipper. He decided to return the favour and began looking around. He then passed a tent that was selling what looked like paranormal investigation gear. He decided to peruse the assortment of gadgets. It became clear to him that most of this stuff was either out of date, or something he already owned. As he was about to leave, something buried beneath the gadgets caught his eye. He looked closer and saw that it was a hardcover, red leather-bound book that looked to be in not-so-good condition.

He thought back to Ford's Journals and how beaten up they'd gotten after thirty years. Out of curiosity, he decided to give the book a quick look through. As he unburied it and brought it up to his face, he was so shocked that he dropped it. Instinctively, he picked it back up and cleaned it off. He looked at the cover again. There, staring right back at him, was himself. Reflected by the golden cutout of a six-fingered hand, and written on the palm, was the number three. He couldn't believe it. Was he really holding this thing again after 4 years? The last time he'd seen this book was in 2012 after Wierdmageddon. Despite them being burned by Bill, after defeating him, the Journals had been found by Soos out in the middle of the woods. Mabel, during the last campfire they held that summer, had decided to throw them all into the bottomless pit.

He flipped through the journal, and sure enough, all the pages were there. All the scribbled-out notes, all the photos and documents that had been taped in. Even the entries he had written himself were there. He could clearly tell it wasn't a fraud either, the wording and writing style of both authors was exact, and the sketches and drawings were too precise. He really was holding Journal 3.

He placed it back on the desk and began scrounging around for the other two. But they didn't show up. Just then, a person walked up to the desk and asked,

"Can I help you?" The man had a gruff redneck voice.

"Do you guys have two other books that look like this?" He held up the journal, hoping that this person might know where the other two were.

"That's the only one I was given. If there are others like it, I have no idea where they'd be," The man explained.

"Oh, okay. Do you at least know how you guys came across it?" Dipper inquired.

"I was told some of our rangers found it during a regular Moose tagging mission. Supposedly after reading through it, the rangers reported having terrible headaches and nightmares. Heh. Personally, I think that's a load of hooey." The man explained.

"Do you want to buy it? They seemed desperate to get rid of it. And we've got a good deal on it," The man offered.

"Heh heh. No thanks. I've had my fair share with that thing. I'll leave it for someone else," he turned to walk away, but before he got too far the man asked him,

"This book used to be yours. Didn't it?" Dipper turned around and simply winked at the man.

He eventually found a gift for Pacifica, and as he was walking back to the group, he accidentally bumped into someone,

"Oh! So Sorry," he apologized.

"No worries," Politely responded a young girl who looked no older than 12. He helped her up and watched as the kid continued on her way. Dipper noticed that she was heading right for the paranormal tent. The kid looked through the gadgets, and then her eyes were drawn right to Journal 3. As she flipped through the pages, Dipper could see her eyes lighting up with awe and wonder, and perhaps a slight hint of adventure. She proceeded to buy the book plus a few of the gadgets and then left.

Dipper smiled. He envied the girl slightly. He was so used to Gravity Falls's weirdness by now, he had forgotten what it was like to be in her place. Young, filled with a burning sensation to see more, be more and uncover the mysteries this town and many other places have to offer. With that, he joined the group and they all decided to head back to the shack.