RC at THE SEA: DuckinTales - Ep 3

Welcome to Episode 3 of a new series here at Jedemi. Taking place 30 years after the original Jedemi Chronicles, DuckinTales are about former Suit, Ms. Katie’s new and exciting approach for Ducking Jeeps (#DuckDuckJeep) as told by another Katie creation, RC the Gremlin who has a side hustle as… RC the Raconteur. This series is just a start as Ms Katie has another exciting tale in the works. Enjoy! —The Gang

DUCKIN’ AT “THE SEA” – AN RC ADVENTURE – EP3
POC TIME! KATIE’S DRIVE ABOUT…

EXT. WESTSIDE BREW PUB
It’s a week later and RC THE STORYTELLER arrives at THE SEA to find a lot more folks are hanging out. Looking around, he finds a friendly face — it is KIMBERLY THE HAPPY BARISTA from the CAT & CLOUD. Not sure if she remembers him (or which persona of him she DOES remember), he smiles and approaches.

RC THE GREMLIN
Hey you! CAT & CLOUD, right?

KIMBERLY
Oh hey there Mr Gremlin… Katie’s SLABBY creation.
Good to see you!

RC laughs and then shifts.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Not today. Today I’m RC THE STORYTELLER doing
my weekly side hustle.

KIMBERLY
And I’m off to do one of MY various side hustles.

She holds up her phone.

KIMBERLY
See. Someone needs a ride downtown.

RC smiles and waves to her as she makes her speedy exit, then turns his attention to the folks gathering in his corner of the patio.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Significantly larger group than last week.

RC feels a tap on the shoulder.

PUB CUSTOMER
Nice slide show you got there. Does a great job
catching people up on the Duckin’ story so far.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Slide show?

He excuses himself and moves closer to study the screen (sheet hanging on a clothesline near the RC THE STORYTELLER’s spot).

RC THE STORYTELLER
Ah! I see that my friends have been busy.

Before long, a nearby BOOMBOX kicks into gear.

BOOMBOX JUKEBOX
Could be, who knows? There’s somethin’ due any day…
I will know right away, soon as it shows.

…Who knows? It’s only just out of reach
Down the block, on a beach, under a tree…

The music seems to be ushering folks towards RC’s spot.

Off to the side, a couple of regulars clue in on the words and are cracking up… almost spilling their fine craft beverages.

ANOTHER PUB CUSTOMER
Could it be…. a Westside…

PUB CUSTOMER’S FRIEND
Story?

BOOMBOX JUKEBOX
…Could it be?
Yes it could.
Somethin’s comin’,
somethin’ good, if we can wait…

PUB CUSTOMER
Nice musical intro Mr RC! You’re firing on
all cylinders this day for sure!

RC points to the BOOMBOX.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Too kind, you are. This one is also NOT. MY. DOING.

SECOND PUB CUSTOMER
Yeah right… Wouldn’t be so sure about that.
Seems kinda lock step with you.

RC shakes his head and laughs. Then someone from the back repeats the OPENING SHANTY from the previous week a cappella-style.

SHANTY
One, here comes the two to the three to the four…
Bring him a stout and he’ll tell us more…
Oh my good Lord…

Taking that as his cue (showtime!), RC steps up to continue Duckin’ Tales at The SEA.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Hey guys! Welcome back. Thanks for waiting a week to
find out… WHAT. HAPPENS. NEXT.

As he speaks, the words appear projected on the sheet hanging on the clothesline near him.

RC THE STORYTELLER
So… I’ll just dive right in as I believe that slide show
did its job to catch you up. Now let’s see what our
LADY KATIE’s been up to…

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. KATIE’S KITCHEN

RC THE STORYTELLER
The thing about Ms. Katie is… when her brain is engaged,
like she isn’t going to let go of an idea… She may take
breaks to ponder, but she always seems to circle back around.

Luckily for her, she had the day off which gave her a good
block of time to further embrace her DUCKIE idea.
RC points to the sheet while talking where sketches
of her duck concepts can be seen.

RC THE STORYTELLER
She actually placed a few of her drawings around the house
for additional inspiration.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. KATIE’S HOUSE

Katie is moving around her house while thinking out her thoughts on this Duckin 2.0 Project.

KATIE INTERNAL
I kinda like ‘em. Friendly and the wave works, right?
Sure why not. To me, the Duckie rockin’ the hoodie definitely
completes the look… Standard dress code for me…
heck most people in these parts… over the hill too!

AUDIENCE IN UNISON
Oh, Yeah! For Sure!!

Oh, Yeah! For Sure!! –Westsiders on Hoodie Dress Code

RC THE STORYTELLER
As Katie continues moving about, she stops suddenly and
picks up her phone. Tapping the weather app, an even bigger
smile crosses her face.

KATIE
Woo-hoo! It’s Jeepin’ weather!

RC THE STORYTELLER
So Katie does what we locals know to do…
Layers up …topped by her favorite hoodie
and then… She preps her Jeep for adventure.

KATIE INTERNAL
This is where the proof of concept can be challenging…

RC THE STORYTELLER
After revisiting the placement of her “STUNT DUCKIES”,
she backs the Jeep out of her garage and heads towards
West Cliff Drive.

While he’s telling the story, projected on the sheet is an aerial view.

RC THE STORYTELLER
There’s a running dialogue going on inside her head
as she drives.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. KATIE’S JEEP

She’s cruising now heading towards the Boardwalk
and into town.

KATIE INTERNAL
You know… People here are chill already… that’s
why they’re here… to avoid all that angst on the
other side of the hill. So I guess… I’ll just cruise
along and look for signs of Duckin’.

So she continues driving. Takes the freeway to Aptos and then loops back through Soquel.

KATIE INTERNAL
Must stop. They’re still open.

She pulls into the parking lot near The Bagelry. Hops out and grabs up her usual along with a bag of day olds. As she returns to her Jeep, she notices a couple looking closely at it. She smiles at them.

THE COUPLE
Nice Jeep! Half doors are cool!

KATIE
Thanks!

Katie wants to say more, but they’ve moved on – seem to be on a similar mission — Hitting The Bagelry before it closes. Hopping back in the Jeep, Katie drives in the direction of the Westside silently pondering.

KATIE INTERNAL
Seems like they were reacting to the Jeep itself, not
my “STUNT DUCKIES”. For sure, gotta expand the testing territory.

She makes a turn and sees her neighborhood CAT & CLOUD.

KATIE INTERNAL
Let’s do it. Grab a beverage. Eat half of my Scrambagel.
Read some manga. Give the universe time to catch up with me.

Katie laughs as she pulls into the parking lot and heads inside.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. WESTSIDE BREW PUB

RC is now “breaking the 4th wall” to interact with his audience.

RC THE STORYTELLER
You guys know… CAT & CLOUD AKA C&C?
…Just over there (he points)
near the bike trail?

AUDIENCE IN UNISON
Yeah! Go on!

RC THE STORYTELLER
When Katie’s NOT over the hill visiting JEDEMI,
she can be found hanging out at the C&C which just so happens to
have a really nice communal table… she’s dubbed it “the
VIV TABLE” because… well, JEDEMI now has a similar one. But
that’s a story for another day.

LISTENER IN THE SHADOWS
Okay, for FLOW-sake, let’s keep this one on track.
Please and Thank-you!!

RC THE STORYTELLER
Fine! Now back to the story…

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. CAT & CLOUD

RC continues the narration.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Walking up to the counter, Katie looks around for the
HELPFUL BARISTA, KIMBERLY. Not only is she friendly,
but they apparently have something in common…
drawing on a SLABBY thing.

PUB CUSTOMER
You mean an iPad?

RC THE STORYTELLER
Yeah, but slabby thing is kind of a fun way to describe
it. Makes me think of the FLINTSTONES…

LISTENER IN THE SHADOWS
The what?? Come on guy…

RC THE STORYTELLER
Right. So as I was saying, Ms Katie doesn’t find her
Kimberly, but the desired table is wide open, so she
settles in.

You guys familiar with LAY-FLATs?

RC notices blank stares and one determined stare down.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Comb-bound book. Most often encountered in the
cookbook section.

RC THE STORYTELLER
continues…

Well, Ms Katie has taken to breaking and then comb-binding
her manga and that’s what captures the attention of…

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. CAT & CLOUD

While Katie is focused on her manga, someone approaches the table.

CAFE CUSTOMER
Mind if I join you?

Without looking up, Katie replies.

KATIE
Sure. No problem. Plenty of room.

CAFE CUSTOMER
Thanks. (pause) Manga? Comb-bound?
A lay-flat manga?!
Whoa! Where did you get that?

Now looking up, Katie sees that the “customer” is actually Kimberly the Helpful Barista.

KATIE
Hey there! Good to see you.

KIMBERLY
Likewise. I was wondering if we’d bump into each
other again.

KATIE
Right? Busy season at HD for me and I’ve been heading
over the hill on my days off… Couple times a week.

KIMBERLY
Warmer there?

KATIE
Yeah. Plus, hang time with a new buddy of mine too.

Katie is wrapping up the other half of her ScramBagel and about to put it away.

KIMBERLY
Gotcha.

KATIE
You hungry?

KIMBERLY
That’s Bagelry, right? Nice! Yeah… I could eat.

KATIE
Cool. Here you go.

Between bites, Kimberly answers Katie’s questions.

KIMBERLY
I scaled back my hours here so I can do gig work…
make more money.

KATIE
Ah. Finding time to draw?

Kimberly smiles and pulls out her SLABBY THING taps the Paper app and flips through some of her work.

KATIE
Nice. Looks like you’re getting a feel for it.

KIMBERLY
Random though as I don’t have an immediate project or
anything. But … sure is fun.

KATIE
Gotta place where you can settle in and do your drawing?

KIMBERLY
Not really… Sometimes I come here to this table, put
my SPOTIFY on… earbuds in, hoodie up — then…
I can get on a roll.

While Kimberly is talking, Katie pulls her own SLABBY THING out of her satchel-pak, but sets it to the side.

KATIE INTERNAL
I should show her. Get her take. Friendly environment,
but first, let’s find out more about this Spotify thing.

KATIE
Glad to hear you’ve figured out a work-around. Now– How about
letting me in on your SPOTIFY. Whatcha listening to?

Kimberly laughs.

KIMBERLY
So… random, but not. Seat Belts as in “Cowboy BeBop”
soundtrack.

KATIE
Huh?

KIMBERLY
An Anime turned Live Action, which I caught on Netflix. Tunes are catchy… You got Spotify?

Katie pulls out her phone and presses the Spotify green button.

KATIE
Yup.

She starts typing in the search box, when Kimberly reaches over.

KIMBERLY
You cool with letting me set you up?

KATIE
Sure! Thanks!

Katie watches as Kimberly loads up a playlist.

KIMBERLY
I built a list… Japanese Jazz Fusion… JJF-to-Draw-By.

Kimberly’s phone buzzes. Looking at the screen, she suddenly stands up.

KIMBERLY
Whoops! I totally forgot. Auntie needs a ride to the doctor.
That was a reminder. Gotta jam. She looks at Katie and hands
over her phone.

KIMBERLY
Random, but… I’d like to text you…
talk manga drawing and stuff…

KATIE
Sure!

Katie types in her number while Kimberly goes to the counter to purchase coffee beans. Returning with “THE ANSWER” which she holds up for Katie to see.

KIMBERLY
Auntie is addicted to it. Can’t show up empty handed.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. WESTSIDE BREW PUB

RC is wrapping up this week’s edition of “Stories @ “THE SEA”.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Well, my friends and listeners… especially you back there
in the shadows, that’s a wrap for this week. I’m going to
leave you with two things…

Projected on the screen is a picture of Katie’s Jeep as seen by Barista Kimberly.

RC THE STORYTELLER
This is what showed up on Katie’s phone.

KIMBERLY TEXT
Nice Jeep!

And in a second message, she wrote:

KIMBERLY TEXT
Love the Duckies!! Talk soon!

He pauses so his audience can take in this last part.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Interesting, right? Got you curious?

He looks around.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Thought so. Next week we’ll see rejoin our Katie as she
works through her more of her DuckDuckJeep 2.0 ideas.

RC bows and then stands up and takes a sip of a HumbleSea beverage which is handed to him from one of the audience members. As he’s about to walk off, the voice from the back pipes up.

What was the second??

LISTENER IN THE SHADOWS
Uh… You said two things. What was the second?

RC THE STORYTELLER
Oh… Right! My bad.

RC reaches for the mobile device and quickly pairs it with the speakers — and loads a Spotify playlist that he projects on the screen while also hitting play.

RC THE STORYTELLER
There you go! In case you were wondering, THIS is a sampler of
JAPANESE JAZZ FUSION – a subset of the playlist curated by
non other than… Ms Kimberly the Helpful Barista / aspiring
manga artist. Enjoy!

Again, RC bows. Picks up his beverage and moves aside.