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Chapter 36: Home

When he was little and his parents were still around, he fell out of a tree and broke his arm. The village healer said it was a miracle of God that he didn't die, but his arm would be useless.

He proved them wrong though, and after a couple weeks of limited movements he had the use of his arm back. Though it wasn't nearly as much as before, he was not considered crippled or a burden on the village.

So when he woke in the hospital with his mind as blank as the snow outside, he couldn't tell the doctors his name, only that the pain wasn't so bad. He had faced something worse in life that would give his subconscious perspective, even if his waking mind couldn't remember.

They called him John, because that was what they called lost people. When he told the doctors he had no memories, that his mind was empty, they sighed and kept calling him John, because no one wanted to take

the time to think of something better. He wasn't upset by that though. John was a good name, it sounded strong, and strong was what he needed. So he went by John, and when he was discharged from the hospital he was still called John.

He didn't know where exactly he was. The town he was in didn't sound familiar, nor did anything he saw. He had scars on his body from things he couldn't remember, and he discovered he didn't like darkness. He didn't like the cold either, but a warm blanket could easily solve that problem.

John found a job in a grocery store, where he learned he could read and write multiple languages. He learned he could remember anything anyone said to him, and that he could always tell when someone was lying. He got an apartment and learned how to pay rent, and still, not one memory came back to him.

It was years before he got fed up with coworkers who kept trying to get him to remember. John decided that if he didn't remember by now, it wasn't worth remembering. His meager job at the grocery store didn't give him a lot of options, but it did allow him to save up enough to move away from the only life he knew.

He wanted to stay in Oregon. That was the only thing he knew was in this state. John went to the library, and pulled a large map of the state down for him to look at. He didn't know what he was searching for, but he eventually found it, tucked into the state so small he almost didn't see it.

Gravity Falls.

It was hard to say goodbye to his coworkers and the crazy neighbor across the hall who liked racoons. John hadn't thought about it too much when he was packing the few possessions he had collected, but when he was suddenly faced with saying goodbye to everyone, he found himself choking up. These were the only people he knew in life, the ones he could call family.

They all gave heartfelt goodbyes and one of his friends, a girl named Aubrey, gave him a plate of cookies. He had discovered quickly after waking up that he had quite the sweet tooth, and so when she handed him a plate of triple chocolate chip cookies, he nearly died of happiness.

"Thanks, Bree." He murmured, hugging her tightly.

"No problem, Johnny. Go and be happy." She hugged back.

John nodded, getting into his car and starting it up. With the boxes of clothes and everything else he had packed into the back of his small car, John waved goodbye to the only friends he had known. The cookies were finished an hour into the drive to the small town, but John didn't mind. He had hardly finished them when he finally got to the small town, which seemed to just be waking up.

He stopped in town square, getting waves and nods from the people around, all happy to see a new face. John grinned, stretching and grinning up at the state of the town's founder.

"Gravity Falls…" He mused, getting back in the car. "I'm home."

Winter was the season he hated the most. For the town that could have scorching hot summers, it could have freezing cold winters as well. John never liked it. The ice and cold, it always made him think of something sinister, something that lurked and waited, but he had no idea what. All he could think about was how he wanted to be warm, how he wished for summer already.

It took him a little while, but eventually he had found a job working for the mayor, an adorably small man who could never decide on what he wanted. John didn't mind, as his job mainly consisted of sitting at a desk and doing nothing.

It was a cold winter day, and he had just gotten coffee when the Sheriff of the town walked in to see him. It had been a regular routine for him and Blubs to talk while Durland did whatever he did for his morning routine.

"Hey, John. Didja hear? Mystery Shack got a new exhibit!" The Sheriff was starting to get some grey hair around his temples, something he didn't have when John came down to the small town years ago.

"Did it?" John was never interested in the supposed 'Mystery Shack'. He was sure it was nothing more than fake things, but the people of the town loved it. John figured it would be entertaining for the masses.

"Yeah! Have you still not been? Everyone knows you can't say you're a real Gravity Falls-ian until you go and see it." Blubs grabbed John's coffee, sipping it despite the blondes protests. Though the Sheriff couldn't have said anything more to get John to go to the Mystery Shack.

"I'll go tonight then."

He didn't end up going that night. John ended up completely forgetting about the small Shack until over a year later, when spring was gripping the air, and flowers were shinning. John had been at the diner when Lazy Susan was talking about something new they had, and John realized he had never gone to it.

Reserves gone, he finished his food and went down the dirt road that lead to the Shack. He had lost track of the years it had been since he moved there, but that's what he liked about the place. Routine, schedule, how everyone took things in stride. John walked and shoved his hands in the pockets of his dress pants, and hummed a light tune.

Ever since he woke up, nothing had been familiar to him. Everything he learned and saw, he was seeing it for the first time. Yet as he walked down the path, the trees felt familiar, as though he had walked that road a thousand times before. Yet he couldn't remember being here in his entire life.

The Mystery Shack was more worn down than he expected it to be. John looked it over before he walked up the porch steps, vaguely noting how they seemed to have a pet goat. Not the strangest thing he had seen in his time with Gravity Falls.

The bell rang as he walked in. The gift shop was empty besides a woman standing behind the counter with long, curly brown hair. John glanced at her for a moment, about to turn away when he heard her voice.

"Hi! Welcome to the Mystery Shack, how can I help you?"

He was home.