The Beginning: I've Fallen Into His Hands (Gravity Falls Fanfic)

Chapter 60

Eleanor's POV

It felt like hours that I had been floating in oblivion, inky blackness all around me, before I dropped out of the sky in a white flash and tumbled onto my stomach. The time machine flew out of my hand, landing in a lawn, and I rolled over once - my scream cut short when I slammed into some rose bushes. For a moment I went still, the shock of the matter still catching up with me. I blinked, my gaze fuzzy and my head swirling. I drug myself out of the bushes, the thorns catching onto my already ruined shirt. I yanked my hair out, shaking my head and gasping for breath.

Frantically, I looked around and found the tape measure on the grass and snatched it back. I held it tightly, fearfully. When my blurred vision finally cleared I stumbled to my feet, almost toppling over again. I was in someone's front yard. I was standing on the lawn that was surrounded by rose bushes. A little bit ahead of me was a concrete driveway that lead up to the house. I shakily walked off the grass and down the driveway to the side walk.

I looked up and down the street that divided me from the house in front of me. It was clear. The air smelled clear and the sun was warm on my skin. That's when I looked at the house in front of me. A simple front yard with rosemary bushes lining underneath a bedroom window. The front door caved into the house and a small walkway lead out, lined by thick lantanas, and turned into the drive way. I was in California. I was by my house. My legs turned to jelly and I felt immense fear course through my veins.

I was home. But it didn't feel like home anymore... I slowly walked across the street, my legs sending up little sparks of pain with every step. I finally reach the sidewalk that ran by my house and just stared at the eerily familiar sight. I didn't realize I had been holding my breath so I breathed in deeply, my body trembling. Then the door knob turned.

I jumped at the sound and dove behind the lantanas, the flowers fluttering around me. My heart was racing and I prayed the person exiting the house didn't hear the beating of it. I bit my lip, squeezing my eyes shut tight as I heard the door close and the person walking past the lantanas and down the drive way. I hopped over the bushes to hide from the person and peaked my head up to see who was walking down the sidewalk and gasped.

It was me.

I was wearing a long-sleeve blue cotton sweater with skinny jeans and black boots. I had a burlap sack with a navy blue letter E painted on the side of it.

I remembered this day. I was off to my friend's house - Madison - to carpool with her to art camp. I looked so plain and ordinary. Like any other girl on Earth. The one that walked the streets unnoticed, but knew all the neighbors. The one who would casually wave to say hello at other pedestrians. So ordinary. So, normal.

That's when I remembered what would happen tomorrow. Tomorrow, my parents would drop the bomb of all news that we were moving to Gravity Falls, Oregon. I recalled yelling at them, telling them no and that all my friends were here. Back then, I had no idea what was ahead. But I did now. And I was going to stop it. I tried to pick out anything in my memory that might clue me to what made my parents want to move.

I gasped, remembering, and ran to the mailbox posted at the edge of our yard. I yanked it open and stared into the opening. There it was. The pamphlet. I shakily reached in and drew it out, studying it. On the very top, in bold letters, it read out Gravity Falls. It talked about how beautiful it was up there and all the attractions - even featuring the Mystery Shack on it as one of the tourist traps. This must have been the variable the Ford guy had missed when he went back to stop me from ever coming to Gravity Falls. Who knew one flimsy piece of paper was the cause of all of this.

I clipped the tape measure to my side and held the pamphlet with both hands carefully. If I got rid of it now, I would never go to Gravity Falls, I would never meet Dipper, I would never meet Bill, I would never see Dipper die, I would never fall madly in love with Bill. So many things would never happen. But. I had to do it. Without hesitation, I ripped the pamphlet in half and then ripped those pieces in half as well. I marched over to our neighbor's trash can and tossed the torn up pieces in, letting them flutter to the bottom.