A Whole New Story

Chapter 5

Dipper had been going to the statue for almost 3 weeks. Whenever Mabel didn't need him to drive her and her friends somewhere or Ford didn't want help with a project, he would make his way to the clearing where Bill's statue was. He felt a calm feeling whenever he was in the clearing and he had assumed it was either because he was constantly reassured that Bill was gone, or it was because no magical creature went near the statue so he was safe and alone to enjoy nature.

For the first few days, he sat opposite the statue, not interacting with it in any way. However, after a while, he began ranting to statue about any little thing that bothered him or affected him negatively. After about a week of those small vent sessions, he found himself talking about his day and almost anything at all, even if it wasn't anything significant. By the end of the second week, he felt comfortable with sitting closer to the statue, though he still avoided any physical contact with it.

The statue became some sort of safe place to Dipper - a place where he could talk for hours and be himself without any judgment from anyone. Dipper didn't mind at all. In fact, he was somewhat happy with that terminology - as long as it was just the statue and not Bill. He knew that the loneliness that he constantly felt was the reason for his longing of the happiness and comfort he felt near the inanimate object, but he didn't care as long as he continued feeling that way. Though that caused another problem for Dipper, he became attached, and he was getting more attached each day. He couldn't let Ford nor Mabel nor anyone for that matter find out about this. It would jeopardize too much... Ford would assume too much. Mabel would probably get a mental breakdown from finding out that Bill is real. Stanley wouldn't trust him... So, he kept it a secret, which wasn't difficult due to his major personality change a few years ago.

Dipper chuckled softly as a small Steller's Jay landed on his head. The bird seemed to enjoy the warmth of his hair and began to burrow itself in his hair. So, the burnet simply continued walking, ignoring the bird as it made itself at home on his head.

Soon, Dipper arrived at Bill's statue. He placed his backpack on the soft grass, damaging a few flowers on accident. He slowly sat on the grass before removing the sleeping bird from his hair. "Hi, little guy..." He softly whispered as the bird began to wake in his palms. Dipper was very gentle. He wished not to accidentally harm the animal nor frighten it. "Where are your parents?" The bird chirped quietly and flapped its wings once it was fully awake. It looked up at the male before flying out of his hands and back into his hair, where it went back to sleep. Dipper sighed. He wondered where the bird's parents were and why it hadn't left as yet. Though, he must admit that he enjoyed its company.

Dipper once again removed the bird from his hair and placed it in the grass. Afterward, he took his shirt off and folded it to make it soft and warm for his guest. He carefully placed the bird on the shirt and laid the shirt a few feet from the statue. Hopefully, when the bird woke up, it would safely fly home.

After making sure that the bird was safe for now, Dipper emptied his backpack. He had bought a few cleaning supplies before coming to the forest today. The statue was very dirty. Moss hung from Bill's tophat, arm, and side. The stone was discoloured due to being exposed to the weather for years. Bill's hands were covered in some sort of stain caused by dirt that was blown by the wind. The bottom left half of the statue was overgrown with grass. Overall, the statue looked old and abandoned - which was technically true.

Since Dipper came here so often, he got annoyed and slightly disgusted by the smell and look of the statue. So, he thought he'd clean it as a small 'thank you' for keeping his company for the last few weeks and 'goodbye'. He had realized and contemplated the risks that came with visiting the statue. If he was caught... his life would probably be worse than it already was. So as the smart and logical young man he was, he decided to only come if it was absolutely necessary.

He quickly got to work, occasionally checking on the sleeping bird. For the next few hours, Dipper used diluted bleach to kill the moss and removed it with his gloved hands. Then, he pulled out the overgrown grass from around the statue and sprayed a herbicide that he bought to prevent the grass from growing quickly. When he was finished with that, he dusted of any dirt from the outstretched hand and used a wet cloth to get any dirt out of the creases. Finally, he used an absorbing powdered poultice to restore the original shade of grey to the statue. After he finally finished, he sighed in satisfaction. It was almost time for him to return to the shack, so he quickly packed his backpack with the empty containers of the cleaning supplies and got his shirt. The bird was no longer on the shirt, so he assumed it finally flew back to its parents. He put his shirt on before hurring back to the shack.

As soon as he arrived at the shack, he quietly made his way to his room and hid his backpack under his bed. His sister ate in town with her friends, so she was in the attic. Ford was in his lab, and Stanley was eating while watching the television.

Dipper took a long shower, washing every bit of sweat or cleaning agent off his skin and out of his hair. He changed into his pajamas after drying his skin and went to check on Mabel. As he was about to knock, he paused. She was talking to someone on her phone and her sentence caught his attention. "It doesn't matter what Dipper wants." Dipper wasn't the type to eavesdrop and he technically didn't eavesdrop. Though, he felt hurt at the statement. It probably isn't what it sounded like... right? Maybe if he silently listened from the other side of the door it would explain what was happening? That it she meant something other than what he thought? "Listen. I'm his sister. He'd do anything for me. I'm telling you, it doesn't matter if we're bothering him. He'll still do it if I ask. Besides he doesn't have any friends and he's always alone, it would be good for him to follow me around and meet some people." Dipper took a deep breath at Mabel's words. He thought that she probably just worded it wrong, that she just meant he loved her a lot and needed to socialize more but... that didn't change the sharp pain he felt. The feeling of sadness and betrayal that stabbed his heart. So, he turned around and returned to his room to sleep.