RC at THE SEA: DuckinTales - Ep 1

Welcome to Episode 1 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 – EP1
WHAT’S DUCK(in) DOC?

EXT. WESTSIDE BREW PUB

It’s a chilly evening in the Westside neighborhood, so the heaters outside the HUMBLESEA brew pub beckon. There’s music coming from… a mystery location, not far from one glowing heater.
In fact, it appears to be coming from an OLD SCHOOL BOOMBOX with the volume very much under control — loud enough to hear but not literally “booming.” In fact, if anything the boombox is setting the tone… literally.

BOOMBOX SHANTY
There’s a party down on Swift Street…
Someone pour me up another glass of HumbleSea…
Me and their stouts have a history…

What’s visible are shadows seemingly dancing. And the boombox continues.

BOOMBOX SHANTY
One, here comes the two to the three to the four…
Bring me a stout and I’ll tell you more…
Oh my, good Lord…

Moving closer, we can see someone two-steppin’ under the heater, with a nearly empty pint glass in hand. The music has seemed to draw some interest as others from the shadows gather around.

LISTENER IN SHADOWS
We’re ready. Tell us more…

The “two-stepper-in-the-shadows” is a local named RC. He, indeed has a history, but that’s a story for another time. On this particular evening, RC THE STORYTELLER is about to regale his listeners with a story of Ducking.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Gather round my friends for this…
…This duckin’ tale will no doubt tickle the imagination.

LISTENER IN THE SHADOWS
Ducking? Like… when one of your tales disappoints
and the audience rebels and tosses shoes in your direction?
That kind of ducking?

The Listener in the Shadows steps into the light long enough to be seen making a pantomimed motion of throwing something. RC literally ducks and then springs back up.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Ya missed! (laughs) This ducking has to do with… JEEPS.
(pause) Heard of it?
There are some head nods.

RC THE STORYTELLER
How ‘bout you Mr Listener in the Shadows…
Seen it? Heard of it?

LISTENER IN THE SHADOWS
Maybe… well… not really, so please enlighten us all
and tell us your Tale of… Ducking.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Alrighty then… Let’s tighten up this circle here so
I don’t have to raise my voice this fine evening.

RC THE STORYTELLER begins. And like radio plays/dramas from the past, he voices the characters in the story and even works in sound effects if they enhance the storytelling.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Let’s begin at the beginning… Once upon a time, in an eclectic
cafe not far from Silicon Valley, some folks were hanging out
sipping on the cafe’s signature beverage — MOCHA CHAI.

At the table were happy puppy KEE-RA, his human MEREDITH and KATIE, a former Suit now committed to AND enjoying a FLEX-N-FLO lifestyle.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. JEDEMI CAFE

While they are sitting there, they overhear a woman talking about how she was ducked in the parking lot. Katie scrunches her face as she is puzzled.

KATIE
Ducked? Is that a bad thing?

Meredith laughs.

MEREDITH
You don’t know? It IS a thing… but not bad.
Just unique… It’s a Jeep thing… most definitely.

KATIE
Wait… What?

MEREDITH
Legend has it… that a woman in Canada was having a bad day…
some sort of confrontation shook her up. Then she goes out to
the parking lot and sees a Jeep that looks just like hers…
and that helped shift her mood.

Her way of shouting out to the Jeep owner –nice ride!– was to put
a little rubber duckie on it. Guess she had some in her Jeep…
don’t know the details.

Anyway, the act of giving the duckie filled the woman with joy. Got
her hoping the recipient would feel the joy as well.

KATIE
Giftin’ duckies to strangers. Huh… Interesting…

MEREDITH
More than cool… it went viral. Jeep owners connecting with
Jeep owners… sharing the joy. There’s even a hashtag for
sharing photos on IG #DuckDuckJeep.

KATIE
Wow! Had no idea. When did this start?

MEREDITH
Just after COVID I believe, so fairly recent.

KATIE
Ah… That explains it. I’ve had Jeeps since 1993.
On my third one now… my millennial is an Oh2.

MEREDITH
Whoa! You’ve gotta… Must be… Really? So why aren’t
you driving it?

Katie pulls out pictures of it on her phone.

KATIE
Been babying her. Saving her for warm weather driving.
She’s comfy in our garage but itchin’ to get out.

MEREDITH
Ah. Gotcha! I’ve always wanted to ride in a Jeep.
Looks so fun!

Katie is smiling big time.

KATIE
Yeah it is. I was living here in town when I got
my first one. Made the commute to the Valley and back
a blast. My first convertible was an Alfa… but due to a
running injury, I had to give up driving a stick.

I hearted that Alfa!

She shows a picture of the Alfa parked in Monterey by the water.

Meredith studies the picture and hands it back.

MEREDITH
Bet you’ve got some fantastic stories…

Katie smiles… and thinks of the day she drove in with a conservative Acura Integra and out with a shiny new Black Wrangler.

KATIE
Oh yeah… Starting with Jurassic Park actually. My first
Jeep was purchased the summer that movie made OBJECTS IN
MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR famous.

They both are laughing when Katies backpack alarm rings.

MEREDITH
And that’s a wrap for today, right?

KATIE
Yup with a strong “To Be Continue.”

MEREDITH
Yes and… Please CONSIDER bringing her over some day.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. WESTSIDE BREW PUB

RC breaks the wall to do some explaining.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Ms Katie of this story lives… not far from here actually.
Now, you know how things are with that early morning “dew”
that seems to take like forever to burn off.

LISTENER IN THE SHADOWS
The marine layer? Yeah we know!

RC THE STORYTELLER
And that’s why there’s big business selling heavy hoodies
as the conditions favor the warmth of fleece…

LISTENER IN THE SHADOWS
Also favored are these fine outdoor heaters…

There’s cheering and light clapping.

RC THE STORYTELLER
You guys get the picture. Anyway, Ms Katie keeps her Jeep
garaged and only brings it out when she can cruise around
comfortably with the top down…

He shows a picture so the audience can “get the picture.”

LISTENER IN THE SHADOWS
Gotcha… That DOES look like fun! Now, to recap… What we’ve
learned so far is that Ms Katie owns a Jeep but keeps it garaged…
AND… she knew nothin’ ‘bout Duckin’ before her playdate with
Kee-Ra and his human Meredith.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Well summarized! Now do you want me to continue the story right
now, or hold it for next time?

There’s some side discussion going on and then the very verbal Listener in the Shadows speaks for the group gathered around RC.

LISTENER IN THE SHADOWS
How ‘bout a little preview of where we’re going with
this Jeep Duckin’ thing?

AUDIENCE IN UNISON
Yes please…

RC THE STORYTELLER
Sure thing! Hang on…

RC reaches into his backpack and produces a SERIES OF NAPKINS which he quickly hangs on the wire supporting the patio area’s string lights.

[Note: This video captures the napkin sneak peek]

RC THE STORYTELLER
Okay… I don’t expect you to see your eyes from where
you are. I’ll point to the various ones as I speak and
later, when you go for your next round, you can swing
on by and take a look.

AUDIENCE IN UNISON
Cool, RC!

RC THE STORYTELLER
Let’s start with… Ms Katie was quite stimulated from
the Duckin’ talk. The next morning, she wrote about it
in her Journal and immediately started doing sketches.

RC points to several of the napkins.

RC THE STORYTELLER
I had a front row seat — saw her doing her incubating
slash processing first hand.

LISTENER IN THE SHADOWS
Huh?

RC THE STORYTELLER
She went from Journal sketches to drawing on her SLABBY
THING… AKA her iPad.

RC points to one particular picture. It is the passenger side door.

RC THE STORYTELLER
See? The next step for Ms Katie was to work on placement…
as her idea … the answer to a “Then What?” involved a
different form factor for Duckin…

Magnets!?!

LISTENER IN THE SHADOWS
Magnets!?! I think I see… 3 by 3 magnets, right?

RC THE STORYTELLER
Good eyes! She did mockups using her husband’s
“Trout Route” magnets from Sticker Mule.

RC points to the next several napkins.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Jeeps have a lot of metal… so magnets are ideal for
Duckin’ At least, that was Ms Katie’s thinking.

The audience nods and then RC notices craning necks and squinting.

RC THE STORYTELLER
Tell you what… Let’s put pencils down for today’s
(air quote) STORY HOUR as I’d like you all to have a
chance to look more closely at the napkins here (points)
and I just so happen to have the TROUT ROUTE magnets…
snagged a few, so those of you who aren’t familiar with
STICKER MULE can get a sense of what Katie is up to… Cool??

AUDIENCE IN UNISON
Cool and … coolio!