Apparently, puppy dog eyes work, and RC THE STORYTELLER manages to score some quality time with Mr Squeek. Will this encounter help him with his next “@ TheSEA” session? Read on! —The Gang
Ready For This ??
Where we last left off (in Part 1), RC THE STORYTELLER used the puppy dog eyes trick he learned from Happy Puppy KEE-RA to convince MR SQUEEK (AKA SPECIAL AGENT SQUEEK) to let him tag along while he makes his rounds.
Previously…
Let’s pick up the story and see where it takes us (literally)…
RC is yammering away with Mr Squeek patiently listening (at least initially).
RC THE GREMLIN
Well… As I was saying inside, got a good “ed-U-Kay-Shun” over there… Now… lots of ideas I have…
MR SQUEEK
Just checking… You’re shifting … shifted to THE STORYTELLER, yes?
RC THE STORYTELLER
Yup… You know about my side hustle “@TheSEA”, right?
MR SQUEEK
Yes. Great feeder program for my side hustle up the street. So, what’s that got to do with me?
RC THE STORYTELLER
Potentially…. Everything actually.
MR SQUEEK
Say what? (pauses) Okay, come along… you can walk and talk at the same time, yes?
RC THE STORYTELLER
Gum chewing is out though.
He laughs and Mr Squeek takes off. RC jogs to keep up.
MR SQUEEK
Okay… here’s the deal. Gotta get to THE WHARF for a meetup. Let’s talk on the way and you can UBER back to the WESTSIDE. That’s your final destination, I’m guessing.
RC THE STORYTELLER
You got that right… Thanks so much!
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. STREETS OF SANTA CRUZ
So RC THE STORYTELLER and MR SQUEEK (AKA SPECIAL AGENT SQUEEK) make their way through the side streets of Santa Cruz, with the Boardwalk lights beckoning them. RC starts yammering away and finally stops with…
RC THE STORYTELLER
So… the way I see it… as the saying goes, we … scratch each other’s back…
Mr Squeek is silent. They walk on and after a bit, he recaps what he heard.
MR SQUEEK
Let me see if I understand what you just said. Lots to unpack there…
He’s mulling it over in his mind… organizing his thoughts.
MR SQUEEK
Let’s start with what you heard about the FINN-FINN the FOSTER story.
It’s a DING!THING… ??
RC THE STORYTELLER
Apparently per Happy Puppy Kee-Ra and others in the ‘hood.
I also learned that you, as DOORKAT SQUEEK, approached our former Suit, Ms KATIE to…
MR SQUEEK
Draw the tale of FINN-FINN… Manga-style storytelling.
RC gives him a look.
MR SQUEEK
You’ve seen her with that SLABBY THING, right? Stylus in hand and then…
RC THE STORYTELLER
Uh… I’m a product of that SLABBY THING…
MR SQUEEK
You became PRESENT DAY YOU, only after I got her to downshift to draw something she knows and is quite comfortable drawing.
Seems you guys have quite the history.
RC THE STORYTELLER
Yeah… We DO go way back…
MR SQUEEK
Now let’s circle back to the scratching thing. As I understand…
The objective is to put FINN-FINN’s story in the context of DING!THING adapting to YOUR audience “@TheSEA”, correct?
RC THE STORYTELLER
Yes, and…
MR SQUEEK
And… There’s a ginormous chasm to leap over… to get you from the DUCKIN’ TALES series to FINN-FINN (& the DING!THING) which you want to bridge using… ME??
RC THE STORYTELLER
Yes… I believe my audience “@TheSEA” would totally dig stories about you…
In fact, you know that Happy Barista at CAT & CLOUD… Kimberly?
MR SQUEEK
Yes…
RC THE STORYTELLER
Well, she told me that folks in your audience, lacking true information, have been inventing stores about ya!
I believe there’s even a hashtag… something like #WONDERKAT… dedicated to you.
MR SQUEEK
A hashtag? Really?
RC THE STORYTELLER
I’ve spent enough time with Ms KATIE the Marketing Strategist to know that you should… er… WE should control the narrative, so to speak.
MR SQUEEK
Gotcha… Makes sense.
They keep walking.
MR SQUEEK
Now, what was that other thing? You threw a lot into your pitch?
RC THE STORYTELLER
Let me think… Oh yeah… The aspirational [slash] inspirational aspect of you and your adventures…
Kee-Ra and I had this idea… er… thought… about DING!THING HAPPENINGS…
Came up as an outgrowth of our discussion on what kind of environment is most conducive for …
MR SQUEEK
Wait… Did you just say, DING!THING HAPPENINGS ?
RC THE STORYTELLER
Yeah. He says they are fairly common in his ‘hood.
MR SQUEEK
Really? So what is it? The air? The water? The food?
RC THE STORYTELLER
Hard to pin down… For sure, there’s an environment of acceptance. Welcoming and acceptance…
Smiles. Air hugs and belly scratches for the neighborhood puppies. Feels really good over there.
MR SQUEEK
Interesting…
RC THE STORYTELLER
The word EMPATHY came to mind as we feel that ‘hood is full of empathic people who take care of each other as part of their daily flow.
They just do…
MR SQUEEK
So somehow… they’ve bought in… not just randomly but collectively.
RC THE STORYTELLER
That’s our sense. We figured that at some point, individually they put in the work to get to…
MR SQUEEK
Yeah… You guys are right about that… Being proactive is key.
RC THE STORYTELLER
Okay… circling back to you. We’re operating under the premise that stories can fuel the proactive journey towards self-awareness. It’s as simple as…
MR SQUEEK
What he can do, I can do… Ah-ha!
RC THE STORYTELLER
Ah-ha!s lead to DING!s, you know. And actually, I’ve seen a sketch by Ms Katie in her Journal of a light-bulb +dea. Maybe an early version of her DING!THING concept development.
MR SQUEEK
Circling back to the ask… You want MY story to be the jump-start point for your “@theSEA” peeps?
The thought being… they’d be energized channeling their inner ME?
RC THE STORYTELLER
Something like that. You get the picture and why I needed to track you down this day.
Hot to go, I was after my time with Kee-Ra.
MR SQUEEK
Yeah. You guys put a lot of thought into this and indeed it should lead to more DING!THING HAPPENING stories… which will give you an endless supply “@theSEA.”
They now walk along in silence but seem to be magically drawn to music emanating from THE WHARF.
After a short bit, they start to make out the words of the song.
RC is looking down smiling.
RC THE STORYTELLER
Are you hearing what I’m hearing?
FADE OUT
WHAT. HAPPENS. NEXT.?
RC THE STORYTELLER gave MR SQUEEK (AKA SPECIAL AGENT SQUEEK) a lot to ponder during their “walkfeets” to the WHARF. Will he buy in? — The Gang
Another Call to Adventure…??
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for MORE RC’s Stories @TheSEA: A Storyteller’s Journey.
Oh… and if you liked it, hit us up below [Speak Your Mind] and … please to share!
-The Gang & RC
Thanks for playing!! Oh… And if you haven’t done so already, we invite you to join our waitlist.
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