Journal Entry 731

It's been one year. One year since I heard her laugh. One year since she raced me up the stairs. One year since I thought I was going to see her tomorrow.

That's a dismal thing to celebrate, huh? The disappearance of someone you loved so much you could have called her your sister. I've always read about people visiting the graves of their loved ones on the death anniversary, but she has no grave. The closest thing we could call her grave is the very woods she disappeared in.

The Corduroys called off the search last month, 23 days before I arrived here. The police officers didn't want to give up, but Dan apparently was going insane with the very notion that his daughter was still alive. Though most people don't know it, he gives up very easily. Not something you'd expect from the toughest guy in town.

Grunkle Stan himself actually more or less gave up a week after she was reported missing. He never admitted it, but 7 days after the file was created, he put me and Mabel on double time working at the cash register. Contrary to what my parents think, the saddest day of my life wasn't actually the day I found out she was gone. It was the day that one of my greatest role models decided it was a lost cause.

I still haven't given up, though. To me, it's exactly the way it was the first week of her absence. According to Mabel, I was in denial then, and I remain in denial now. But I know it isn't denial! I know she's still out there somewhere. She's probably lost or something, and that's why she hasn't come home yet. Or maybe she's being held captive by the gnomes. You never know in this town.

Speaking of the supernatural, I found some highly unusual footprints about a week ago. I wasn't able to examine them thoroughly in time, because of a quick downpour of rain that night, but they looked bigger than what any rogue dinosaur or shapeshifter could make. There were claw marks, too, and places where it looked like the animal had tried to scratch apart the earth looking for something. Grunkle Stan didn't get out in time to see them, but Soos said it looked like the world's biggest bat made them. Maybe he's right.

Whatever that animal is, it wouldn't leave the Shack alone. Stan said that he'd been hearing scuffling noises and garbage cans overturning outside around two months before we got here, but whatever it is manages to get in the woods fast enough so that he can't see it. Soos apparently worked late one night and saw something moving outside and growling. Again, he didn't get to see what it was up close. It's almost as though the animal wants us to know that it's there, but doesn't want to be seen. Some of our friends in town told me that the thing's been around for six months or more, staying in the woods and only venturing out at night.

What kind of creature would do that? Usually, the supernatural animals that are aware of human speculation like to be seen once or twice before vanishing without a trace, but this one is definitely different. It's clearly nocturnal if it only shows its face during the late hours, but that's pretty usual for the supernatural. The only other thing I could really conclude is that it doesn't seem to want to hurt us, especially if it's only letting us catch glimpses of its signs and never attacking.

As much as I think this animal is interesting, I can't let my focus stray from finding my best friend. Wendy is counting on me. I know she's out there somewhere, and nobody's going to stand in my way of making sure she gets home!

Hopefully we have some luck this week. Scratch that, hopefully the animal decides to leave us alone. It's causing too much trouble around here.

Dipper lifted his pen from the paper and sighed heavily. Another day of dodging the mysterious "Shack creature". Another day of trying to find his missing friend. Another ordinary day awaited.

As he walked down the hall, the young detective began to recall the previous events of the week. Sure, the footprints had been exciting, but nothing else stuck out. He had gone out once again to the edge of town to search the woods where Wendy disappeared. Mabel invented some sort of sweater that had a microphone in the sleeve, so she could broadcast whatever she wished to a large group of people at any chosen time. Stan and Soos had changed the tires on the golf cart.

"Hey, bro bro," Mabel called out cheerfully, popping around the banister of the steps and scaring the daylights out of her twin. "What's up?"

"I'm going to look for Wendy," Dipper muttered, pushing her to the side. Mabel turned around, her happy expression fading instantly.

"Dipper," she murmured. "You went to look for Wendy yesterday. And the day before that. And the week before, when we were in Piedmont and you couldn't look for her, you were researching the geography of Gravity Falls and possible areas where she could be."

"I'm not going to stop looking for her, Mabel. She's out there."

Mabel stared at the floor. Dipper immediately winced. Oh no. Here it comes.

"Dipper, it's been a year. If she were coming back, she would have done so by now." The young detective's sister wiped her nose and gave him a sad look. "She's gone. She isn't going to come back."

"She will," Dipper murmured, breaking the eye contact.

"You need to face it," Mabel whispered. "One year and she hasn't shown up. She's probably run away to Canada, or…" The girl trailed off.

"She isn't dead," the young detective moaned, clenching his fists.

"I'm not saying she is," Mabel replied. "I'm just saying that she isn't coming back."

"She will come back."

"Dipper, she won't!" the girl cried. "She's gone!"

"She is not gone!" Dipper growled. "I know Wendy! She wouldn't run away! She wouldn't leave without ever saying goodbye!"

He stared down at his quivering sister. He could see tears appearing in the corners of her eyes, and resisted the overwhelming urge to hug her and tell her it was ok, because it wasn't. It wasn't ok.

"Maybe you didn't know Wendy as well as you thought," Mabel finally murmured.

Dipper's muscles froze. He was paralyzed. His sister simply looked up at him, wiping her face with her oversized sweater.

All at once, the spell was broken. Dipper strode past his sister and almost ran out the door, slamming it behind him. He broke into a sprint as he cleared the porch, dashing into the woods as he felt hot, wet water trickling from his eyes.

She's coming back. She's coming back. I just know it.

Once the boy was out of sight of the Shack, he finally broke down. Dipper slid to the ground, burying his face in his hands and letting the tears run down his face. His body shook with every small sob, every slight cough and cry. Still, the words of his sister echoed through his head.

She's gone… She isn't coming back… Maybe you didn't know Wendy as well as you thought…

"You're wrong, Mabel," Dipper choked out. He pulled himself to his feet, forcing himself to continue forward. He wiped his face and pulled his vest up further. He was going to find her. She wasn't gone. She was going to come back. She needed to come back.

As Dipper walked, he noticed that the forest had grown far… quieter, than what would be considered normal. The only sound was the wind in the trees. Not one bird sang, not one squirrel chattered. It was almost as though a great poison had entered the space, killing everything in the path and leaving only silence.

Dipper shuddered. Not his greatest analogy.

The boy stretched and coughed a bit, wiping his still-wet nose. There was still cold in the damp morning air, despite the approaching heat wave of midsummer. His vest provided only minimum comfort against the chilliness of the cool day, and he shivered.

Finally, Dipper reached the area he had left off at yesterday. He pulled out the ragged map he had used in attempt to find Wendy last summer. The poor piece of paper was covered in X's, hastily-drawn lines and the chicken scratch Dipper proudly called his handwriting. The boy sighed and pocketed it. He had searched this exact square mile thirty-nine times last year.

Even so, he started his routine search without any regret. He knew one of these days, he'd find her. All he needed to do was stick with it.

As the day wore on, the sunlight began shimmering through the branches of the trees overhead, warming Dipper and giving him newfound strength. However, his legs were weak as always, and the young detective found himself taking an unnecessary amount of breaks. The trail he had worn through the forest over time was not a smooth one, and some parts took direct climbing to overcome.

Even though he didn't have a watch with him, Dipper knew when lunch had finally come. He hadn't packed himself anything, and wasn't about to eat any mysterious berries that might turn him into a deer-person or something, so the boy sat hungry and alone in the middle of the woods. Mabel, Soos and Stan were probably all chowing down on sandwiches and leftover noodles from last night at the moment. Dipper blushed as his stomach rumbled.

He wasn't about to be discouraged from his search, though. The day was growing wonderfully warm, and Dipper was definitely one to take advantages while he could. He soon encountered a river that he had previously located on the map of Gravity Falls, and stopped to dip his aching toes in the water. Hopefully Wendy had found herself lost here, because the middle of the Gravity Falls forest was a hidden paradise.

The day wore on as Dipper finished up at the river and continued on his trail. As soon as the sun began to set, the young detective set off on his self-planned shortcut home. He hadn't ever tried going this way before, and ended up confirming his path on the map several times to ensure he wouldn't get lost. The woods grew thick in his planned route, and he found it hard to see between them.

The sun was falling fast from the sky, and Dipper found himself expecting the impending darkness far sooner than planned. Still, the woods remained almost creepily silent, void of any animalistic noise at all. The young detective had to admit something odd was definitely going on at this point. He did see a bird flying between a pair of trees perhaps an hour ago, so it couldn't be some sort of wildlife epidemic, but they had no reason to stay so quiet. No noise, no movement. It's almost as though I'm being followed by an inevitable silence.

After Dipper found himself about a quarter down the long trail, he realized just how unnerving the lack of noise was. He was used to hearing the cheerful chirps of communicating birds and fluttering of bats during sunset. Though it hadn't bothered him much at first, the quiet was definitely taking its toll. The long-term effects of such silence were almost terrifying at this point.

Finally, the boy stopped. He had heard something, something big moving through the forest. It didn't sound like a bear or a wolf, but it was certainly huge, and very fast. The footfalls grew closer and closer, and Dipper backed up against a large pine tree.

"Show yourself!" he shouted, his voice quivering. He realized how big of a mistake he had just made when the tremendously loud sprinting of the animal slowed to a halt, just a few meters from where he was cowering. The creature was concealed by the shadows of dusk, but he could hear the heavy panting of whatever it was. He could have sworn he felt his heart stop. It was so close.

He timidly turned his head to attempt a glance at the animal, but stopped in horror. The last rays of light were reflecting off a pair of glittering eyes, glaring back at him furiously. The animal shifted, the underbrush rustling underfoot, and the eyes blinked at him almost in curiousity.

Dipper held perfectly still. His journal said that several of the supernatural creatures living in Gravity Falls didn't have the greatest eyesight. However, he could tell by the way the eyes darted and narrowed that this animal certainly could see him.

They stood there in absolute silence for a few more moments. The young detective was centimeters from freaking out right there and then, but his other was almost bored. The animal seemed to lose interest in him, and shook itself loudly before looking away. Dipper breathed a sigh of relief as he heard it lumbering away into the darkening forest.

"That was close," he murmured to himself. He quickly stole a glance behind him before walking into the space that the animal had previously occupied. He could see into it now that he was closer, and widened his eyes as he gazed upon the where the creature had been.

It was a very large clearing, filled with shrubs and moss. A few pebbles littered the ground, but that wasn't what had caught Dipper's attention. Covering the ground were several gargantuan footprints, looking as though they had been gouged into the soft earth.

He bent down and examined them. Each footprint was around one and a half feet long, with huge claw marks perhaps three centimeters away from the points of the toes. They were in a straight line from one end of the clearing to the other, except in the spot where the animal had paused to inspect the younger boy. They looked as though they were made by a huge heron, or a dinosaur of some sort, ruling out Dipper's previous theory of the creature being a supernaturally large mountain lion.

Dipper slowly reached out and ran his fingers along the small grooves across the bottom of the footprints. He could almost confirm that some sort of bird made them. Maybe an ancient giant moa had come back to life or something. It certainly wouldn't be the strangest thing to ever happen in this town. However, Dipper couldn't shake the unusual feeling that he had seen something like this before.

Of course! Dipper's eyes widened in realization. These footprints were the same kind that he had found outside of the Mystery Shack! The creature that had just stared him down must have been the same that had been bothering the residents of the tourist trap for the past few months. As the young detective realized he had just missed his chance to see and potentially catch the animal, he facepalmed.

He could have finally found out what that thing was! Even Grunkle Stan, who knew a surprising amount about the supernatural considering he hated it, hadn't been able to identify the strange tracks left behind by the beast. The mystery had been plaguing the boy to the point it was taking his mind off Wendy, and he had just blown it!

The boy hissed a loud curse and pulled his hat over his ears. Hopefully he could follow the animal using the tracks it had left behind. Would Grunkle Stan mind him being just the slightest bit late for dinner? Probably not.

Dipper made his mind up and started running alongside the deep footprints leading out of the woods. Somewhat conveniently, they were going more or less the same direction as the Mystery Shack. That would certainly make it easier for him to get home before the others started to wonder where he was. He briefly wondered how far he would have followed the tracks if they had gone in the opposite direction. Most likely, he wouldn't have gone for more than twenty minutes or so before giving up.

He burst into a clearing, panting and staring at the impressive line of footprints, leading through and out the other side. He smiled as he noticed he had gone through this clearing before, earlier in the morning. He was far closer to his great uncle's old tourist trap now.

He resumed running, following the prints until he finally reached an area where the trees started to thin. He could see where the great forest ended, just a few meters ahead. The animal must have had somewhere in particular in mind, if it were leaving the safety and comfort of the woods to venture into civilization. He began to increase his speed, rushing out of the trees and following the footprints now in a dead run.

He gasped for air as the footprints came to an abrupt halt, stopping right in front of the Mystery Shack. He gaped in surprise as he realized there wasn't an animal where the tracks ended. Instead, they broke off, as though the creature had simply decided to forgo the ground and tread through thin air.

"What?" Dipper vented aloud. He glared at the end, stomping at the dirt angrily. The tracks couldn't just end! Did the animal have wings? Did it just take off and fly over the Shack?

He grumbled loudly and walked through the front door, only to have his twin come running from the living room. She stopped short in front of him and gave the young detective a wide eyed expression.

Dipper sighed. "Look, Mabel, I don't want to talk about earlier-"

"That's not why I'm stopping you," his sister replied slowly. "Grunkle Stan wants to see you in the backyard. Now."

The young boy groaned. Had she gone to their great uncle in tears and told him about him getting mad at her? Even so, he walked through the hall and towards the back door.

Or, at least, where the back door should have been.

There was an enormous hole in the wall, providing a clear view of where Soos and Stan were gaping outside in the yard. The back porch was almost completely destroyed, and he could make out pieces of wood and shingles littered throughout the grass. Something had happened.

Dipper ran through the hole and hopped through the wreckage to where the two men were standing. He turned around before feeling his own jaw drop at the sight.

There were several claw marks covering the back of the Shack, as well as a huge chunk missing from the top floor, allowing him to see into Stan's room. That, and the destroyed porch, the upturned table, and the cooler from Wendy's secret hiding spot on the roof. The entirety of the back of their house had been mauled.

Grunkle Stan was the first to speak. "We need to find this monster."

A/N: But Monty! I thought that NaNoWriMo was only for writing original novels! Not fanfiction!

Well, strange anonymous person, my teacher said it would still count if I did it. (Note: I have the coolest writing teacher EVER.)

Well, I'm honestly a bit embarrassed. I finished chapter one actually around seventeen days ago, and probably should have had it up sooner. My apologies. Chapter two should be out a little sooner. Peace out, and review!