Timestorm Episode 20 Transcript

NARRATION
Previously, on Timestorm:

ALEXA
Josie’s our cousin!

ATABEY
You’ll be working together soon.

HORACIO
She’ll guide you from your own time. You’ll have two headquarters. Ask Josie about the tapestry and the other location.

JOSIE
The archways in the two tapestries, they create a vortex...a mystical doorway between two locations.

DATU
Whoa!

JOSIE
Welcome to the other Taino Comics and Games!

JANELLY
I think Alexa and Beni have been time-traveling.

SONIA
I think it’s just a story, Janelly. 

DATU
Lydia wants to start a drawing club in the reading room. You bring in your sketchbook tomorrow. 

ALEXA
Tomorrow?

JOSIE
Tomorrow. And maybe...dress in layers. 

MUSIC: THEME SONG - "IN THE TIMESTORM"

Witness. Find. Remember.
The hidden past seeks its dawn,
showing us that we all belong.
Horacio, Alexa, and Beni take back time,
find history in the timestorm.
Witness. Find. Remember.

2018. A DIGITAL SPACE.

SONIA types a text..

SONIA
Hi Janelly. I’m heading over to Brick City Cafe now. See you soon. Sonia. Send.

SFX: SWOOSH.  

2018. TAINO COMICS AND GAMES. NEWARK, NJ.

MUSIC: TRANSITION MUSIC: TAÍNO COMICS AND GAMES.
SFX: DOOR OPENS/LASER BELL/CITY STREET SOUNDS.

DATU
Janelly!

JANELLY
Hi, Datu. Lydia. I brought my sketch pad.

DATU
I was hoping you would.

DATU turns the pages.

DATU
Check out Janelly’s drawings, Lydia.

LYDIA
Wow, Janelly. I didn’t know you’re an illustrator.

JANELLY
Illustrator? No. I just sketch a little.

DATU
These are more than sketches.

LYDIA
Are these original characters?

JANELLY
Yeah. I’m not really sure if they’re interesting enough to write about.

LYDIA
Are you kidding? Sea creatures: always interesting. Right, Datu?

DATU
Always.

JANELLY
I heard you’re starting an illustration club, Lydia.

LYDIA
Uh...word travels fast. I just mentioned that to Josie and Datu yesterday.

JANELLY
Datu told me.

LYDIA
I guess it’s definitely happening then?

DATU
Maybe Saturday afternoons?

LYDIA 
I’ll get a sign-up sheet going and then when we’ve got enough names we’ll set a starting date.

JANELLY
Cool. I’m gonna head upstairs and get some drawing in before I meet Sonia for rehearsal.

DATU
Sounds good.

LYDIA
Later.

2018. TAINO COMICS AND GAMES - OFFICE. NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

MUSIC: TAÍNO COMICS AND GAMES - NEWARK” TRANSITION.

ALEXA
So, when we met you in San Juan in nineteen ninety-nine, you had just been summoned into the timestorm? And this tapestry here on the wall was in your bag at the time. 

JOSIE
The timestorm gave it powers. That archway—under the right conditions—becomes a passageway. 

ALEXA
Really?

JOSIE
This isn’t the only Taíno Comics and Games location. There’s another one in San Juan.

BENI
Wait a minute. Does this have to do with the two headquarters Horacio was talking about? Are the two stores gonna be our home bases?

JOSIE
Yes. 

ALEXA
That’s amazing.

BENI
We’re gonna travel back and forth between two comic book stores. 

SFX: A KNOCK ON THE DOOR.

ALEXA
I’ve got it.

JOSIE
No, no, no, no! We can’t let anyone else— 

ALEXA opens the door.

ALEXA
Hi, Janelly!

BENI
Hi.

JANELLY
Hey, Beni and Alexa. Josie, I just wanted to apologize for how I spoke to you yesterday and— (gasps) There it is. What I saw on the wall the other day.

JOSIE
Come in, Janelly.

JOSIE closes the door and locks it.

JANELLY
I knew I saw something. 

JOSIE
It’s a tapestry. 

JANELLY
I told you I saw it, Beni. But you said you didn’t see anything.

BENI
I just found out about it.

ALEXA
We didn’t know until this morning.

JOSIE
It’s true. I’ll be honest, Janelly. You weren’t supposed to see this.

JANELLY
Why not?

JOSIE
I can’t tell you.

JANELLY
Like you can’t tell me about the meaning of the last page of Take Back Time. Or what's being said on the cassette tape?

BENI
I think we can tell Janelly. 

JOSIE
It’s too risky, Beni.

BENI
She can handle it.

JANELLY
Handle what?

JOSIE
I was already nervous knowing that I’ll be bringing you two along.

JANELLY
Along where?

ALEXA
I agree with Beni. Janelly should travel with us.

JANELLY
Can someone please give me answers!

JOSIE
Fine. But you probably won’t believe me. This is a magical tapestry. I use it to teleport through a vortex from here to my store in San Juan.

JANELLY
Wait. You have a store in San Juan?

JOSIE
That’s what you’re surprised about?

JANELLY
I mean, you are L. J. Ortega. I was expecting the tapestry to do something out-of-this-world.

JOSIE
So, you believe teleporting is possible?

JANELLY
Sure.

BENI
I told you she could handle it.

JOSIE
Okay. Janelly can join us.

BENI | ALEXA
Yes! | Field trip!

JANELLY
I’m really going to travel with you?

BENI
Josie was just about to teach us how. 

JOSIE
I’ll go first. Hand on the tapestry. 

SFX: TAPESTRY ELECTRICITY.

BENI
It’s buzzing!

JOSIE
The other hand goes on this hanging solar-powered light cube and then—

ALEXA
There’s a word glowing in the archway.

JOSIE
Locus.

JOSIE gasps and whooshes through the vortex.

BENI
Whoa.

ALEXA
She’s—

JANELLY
Gone.

ALEXA
I’m next. 

BENI
Be careful.

ALEXA
See you in San Juan. One hand on the tapestry. 

SFX: TAPESTRY ELECTRICITY.

ALEXA
Locus.

ALEXA gasps and whooshes through the vortex.

BENI
My turn.

JANELLY
See you there.

SFX: TAPESTRY ELECTRICITY.

BENI
Locus.

BENI gasps and whooshes through the vortex.

JANELLY
I knew it wasn’t just a plain white wall.

SFX: TAPESTRY ELECTRICITY.

JANELLY
Locus.

2018. TAÍNO COMICS AND GAMES. SAN JUAN, PR.

MUSIC: “TAÍNO COMICS AND GAMES - SAN JUAN” TRANSITION.

JANELLY
Ahh! 

BENI
You made it!

ALEXA
We’re all here!

JOSIE
The other Taíno Comics and Games. What do you think?

JANELLY
It’s nice in here. 

BENI
It’s a little bit smaller than the store in Newark.

ALEXA
Ooh! Coqui stickers.

JOSIE
Take one. Each of you.

ALEXA | BENI | JANELLY
Nice! | Ooh! | Thanks!

ALEXA
Look! That’s one of the knit coquis I made.

JOSIE
I thought it looked cute on the shelf.

ALEXA
Like it’s watching the customers shop.

JOSIE
I can’t wait to reopen. I was hoping to do it sooner, but splitting my time between here and the Newark store is exhausting.

BENI
All those virtual meetings.

JOSIE
I couldn’t exactly say my meetings were here in San Juan. 

JANELLY
Like you couldn’t tell people that time-travel is real?

Silence.

JANELLY
It is real, right? The timestorm and all that?

JOSIE
Uh...

ALEXA
Well...

BENI
Yeah. It is.

JANELLY
I knew it! And you’ve traveled in time?

ALEXA
Yeah. But it’s not the same as teleporting.

JANELLY
Okay. Tell me how it works, Josie.

JOSIE
Oh. I haven’t actually time-traveled. 

JANELLY
You wrote Take Back Time.

JOSIE
Yes. But I only visited the timestorm once. Nineteen years ago—long story. Alexa and Beni are the time-travelers.

BENI
Oh, you know. We’ve been to a few different centuries.

ALEXA
Actually, three.

JANELLY
Amazing. So, what year are we going to?

JOSIE
Janelly, we’re not traveling in time.

JANELLY
You said it’s real. Like the magical tapestry and the teleporting vortex.

JOSIE
It is all real. But you and I aren’t traveling in time. It’s only Alexa and Beni. 

JANELLY
Oh. I see. So I’m still left out.

BENI
It’s not about leaving anyone out.

JANELLY
I’m just not included. That’s all.

ALEXA
Janelly.

JANELLY
What is it, Alexa? How are you the one who gets to travel to three centuries when six months ago you hadn’t even read Take Back Time? How’s that fair?

JOSIE
Janelly.

JANELLY tries to push open the door.

JANELLY
Could you unlock the door, please? I need some air. 

JOSIE
Fine. But we’re coming with you.

JANELLY
Whatever.

2018. A DIGITAL SPACE.

SONIA types a text.

SONIA
Hey, Janelly. I’m in the rehearsal room now. Sonia. Send. 

SFX: SWOOSH.  

2018. LA PLAZA DE ARMAS. SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO.

MUSIC: “OLD SAN JUAN” TRANSITION.
SFX: A BUSY PLAZA - FOUNTAIN, PEOPLE, CARS.

JOSIE
There’s space on this bench, Janelly. Nice and shady.

JANELLY
I like this fountain better.

BENI
When she said she wanted air, I don’t think she wanted us to tag along.

ALEXA
I’m glad you told us to dress in layers, Josie. Janelly’s gotta be hot in that sweater. 

JOSIE
Ooh. I know what might help. You want a nice cold piragua? I’m treating.

JANELLY
I’m good.

JOSIE
How about you two? There’s a piraguero at the corner of this street.

ALEXA
Ooh. Yes!

BENI
No, thanks.

ALEXA
You’re turning down a piragua?

BENI
I kinda want to talk to Janelly.

JOSIE
Come on, Alexa.

BENI approaches the fountain.

BENI
Mind if I sit here?

JANELLY
It’s a public plaza.

BENI
Pretty hot, huh?

JANELLY
Did you come over here to talk about the weather?

BENI
No. (Beat) I hated keeping all this from you, Janelly. I wish I could have told you back when it happened.

JANELLY
September, right?

BENI
Yeah. That’s when Horacio summoned us into the timestorm. 

JANELLY
What’s it like?

BENI
Inter-dimensional travel? It kinda tickles.

JANELLY
I meant the timestorm.

BENI
Oh. The part we see is just Horacio’s helicopter. 

JANELLY
Just like Take Back Time. 

BENI
Yeah. Honestly, he’s not what I expected. He’s pretty fun and he can be kinda goofy. But he’s family, you know?

JANELLY
Horacio Méndez is real. And he’s your cousin. About these trips you go on—

BENI
Quests.

JANELLY
You seriously go on quests?

BENI
That’s what Horacio calls them.

JANELLY
Like sword in the stone, holy grail stuff?

BENI
Not really. I mean, there are artifacts we’ve gotta find. But these quests aren’t like the ones in the stories everyone knows.

JANELLY
What’s been the hardest quest so far?

BENI
Madrid in eighteen fifty-two. Alexa and I got separated. And I didn’t even know we were looking for Francisco Oller until after I met him.

JANELLY
Francisco Oller? My mom has a print of his painting of some teacher guy.

BENI
Rafael Cordero. He was really cool. 

JANELLY
You met him, too?

BENI
I was in his classroom for a couple of hours. Just down the road on Calle Luna.

JANELLY
Incredible. Okay. Madrid was the hardest. How about most fun?

BENI
Trespassing into a university teacher’s lounge with NASA microbiologist Monsi Román. 

JANELLY
Whoa. Wait. You broke the law with a NASA scientist? 

BENI
Not the law. Just university rules. And Monsi wasn’t a microbiologist yet—she was a student in a science fair. Anyway, we had to steal toxic coffee to prove why the judges were puking.

JANELLY
Of course. Toxic coffee. 

BENI
Okay. There’s a lot I’m leaving out.

JANELLY
Stuff you can’t tell me.

BENI
I probably can, but...la plaza de armas isn’t the best place for this.

JANELLY
Oh.

BENI
You’ll have to get used to keeping secrets. We can’t say anything to the other gamers. Or Lydia. Or Sonia.

JANELLY
She wouldn’t believe us if we did.

2018. A DIGITAL SPACE.

SONIA types a text. 

SONIA
Reannae knows you’re on your way, so she’ll let you in whenever you get here. Sonia. Send. 

SFX: SWOOSH.  

2018. CALLE RAFAEL CORDERO, SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO.

JOSIE
Hola, señor.

PIRAGUERO
Hola. ¿Qué sabor les gustaría?

JOSIE
Go ahead, Alexa.

ALEXA
Coco, por favor.

JOSIE
Y parcha para mí. Gracias.

A PIRAGUERO scrapes at a block of ice.

ALEXA
Calle Rafael Cordero. I didn’t know he had a street named after him.

JOSIE
He was a teacher.

ALEXA
So was his sister, Celestina.

JOSIE
Yeah. I think I heard he had a sister. 

ALEXA
Celestina couldn’t even get enough supplies for all the girls in her classroom. (Whispering) I had to share a slate with two other students.

JOSIE
(Whispering) You were in her classroom? 

ALEXA
(Whispering) Just a few blocks from here. 

JOSIE
(Whispering) Must have been amazing to meet her.

ALEXA
Why isn’t there a street named after her?

PIRAGUERO
Coco y parcha. 

The PIRAGUERO hands them the ices.

ALEXA/JOSIE
Gracias.

PIRAGUERO
Algo mas?

JOSIE
What flavors should we get for your brother and Janelly?

ALEXA
Strawberry and...blueberry.

PIRAGUERO
Fresa y blueberry.

The PIRAGUERO scraps a block of ice.

ALEXA
Hey, Josie. I was thinking about the knit coqui on the shelf in your store here. Maybe it wants some company?

JOSIE
What do you mean?

ALEXA
I could make more of those coquis and you could sell them here when you reopen. 

JOSIE
Oh. Mira eso. 

ALEXA
And you can sell them back in the Newark store, too. We could split the profits. 

JOSIE
Oh yeah?

ALEXA
And I can make more than coquis. 

JOSIE
Okay.

ALEXA
I can make piraguas!

JOSIE
Knit piraguas?

ALEXA
I think they’d sell. 

PIRAGUERO
Fresa. Blueberry.

ALEXA
All different colors.

JOSIE hands him cash.

JOSIE
Quédate con el cambio.

PIRAGUERO
Gracias. 

ALEXA
So? Knit piraguas. We could make them a thing.

PIRAGUERO
Mira, I’d buy some.

JOSIE
Oh sí?

PIRAGUERO
Claro que si. Good idea, nena.

ALEXA
Gracias, señor. 

JOSIE
I’ll definitely think about it, okay?

JOSIE and ALEXA walk onto the plaza.

2018. A DIGITAL SPACE.

SONIA types a text. 

SONIA
Hi. So...Reannae says the room is open for the next half-hour. I’m rehearsing while I wait for you to get here. Send.

SFX: SWOOSH.

Lol. Happy face. Send.

SFX: SWOOSH.

2018. PLAZA DE ARMAS. SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO. 

BENI
Man, it’s hot. You’ve got that sweater.

JANELLY
It’s a light sweater.

BENI
Uh-huh. You’re sweating like crazy.

JANELLY
I’ll just roll up these sleeves and—

JANELLY rolls up her sleeves and plunges her hands in water.

BENI
Janelly! You’re not supposed to do that!

JANELLY
What? This?

JANELLY splashes him with water.

BENI
You’re the worst! 

JANELLY splashes him with water.

JANELLY
Am I?

BENI
For real. I think it’s illegal—

JANELLY
Oh? How many laws have you broken in other centuries?

BENI
That’s different. Hey—your sleeves!

JOSIE and ALEXA approach the fountain.

JOSIE
What’s all this?

BENI
Janelly’s breaking the law.

JOSIE
I know you said you didn’t want piraguas—

BENI
You choose, Janelly.

JANELLY
Blueberry’s my favorite.

ALEXA
Here you go. 

JOSIE
And here’s the strawberry, Beni.

BENI
Mm, thank you!

JANELLY
Here. I’ll move my bag so you can sit too.

JANELLY moves her bag and her sketchbook and phone fall out.

JANELLY
Ugh!

ALEXA
I got it. Oh, nice. You already put your coqui sticker on this sketchbook. 

JOSIE
Are these your drawings, Janelly?

JANELLY
Just some sketches.

BENI
Since when do you draw?

JANELLY
I started in the fall.

JOSIE
Sketching underwater scenes can be tricky. These are really nice.

JANELLY
Thanks. 

ALEXA
Here’s your phone. Looks like you’ve got a bunch of notifications from Sonia.

ALEXA hands JANELLY her phone.

JANELLY
Oh no! I’m supposed to meet her at Brick City Cafe...a half-hour ago. 

JOSIE
I’m sure she’ll understand if you’re late.

JANELLY
Understand? I can’t tell her I’m late because I’m hanging out with you guys in Old San Juan.

BENI
Don’t worry. You’ll think of an excuse. 

ALEXA
Yeah. We always do.

JOSIE
Bueno, you better finish that piragua fast. I don’t recommend teleporting with it.

2018. TAÍNO COMICS AND GAMES - SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO.

MUSIC: “TAINO COMICS AND GAMES - SAN JUAN” TRANSITION.

JOSIE
Remember, no one can know about the tapestry.

JANELLY
Not a word.

ALEXA
Got it.

BENI
I won’t say anything.

JANELLY
This was fun. Thanks for letting me tag along.

JOSIE
I’m glad you came. Now get to that rehearsal. And Janelly? When you’re back in Newark and you walk out of the office, remember to pull the door closed behind you.

JANELLY
Yeah. Sure thing.

SFX: TAPESTRY ELECTRICITY.

JANELLY
Locus.

SFX: WHOOSH.

ALEXA
Ah, there it is. A solo coqui on the shelf.  Don’t you think she needs company, Beni?

BENI
What do you mean?

ALEXA
Josie and I are talking about selling my knit products in her stores.

BENI
Really?

JOSIE
I guess we technically discussed the idea—

ALEXA
And there’s already interest in my new line of knit piraguas.

BENI
You’ll seriously knit anything.

ALEXA
Like our ancestor Elba.

JOSIE
Who’s Elba?

BENI
We met her on one of our trips.

ALEXA
We could show you on the family tree. Our parents have a Heredity account. You’re on there, too.

JOSIE
I’m intrigued. Let’s get back to Newark. We can use my office computer.

SFX: TAPESTRY ELECTRICITY CROSS FADE INTO

2018. TAÍNO COMICS AND GAMES - NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

DATU
Hey, Janelly. How’d the drawing go?

JANELLY
Drawing?

DATU
You know? You said you wanted to get some drawing in before rehearsal?

JANELLY
Right! It was great. But I lost track of time and now I’m late for rehearsal, so I’m just gonna—

DATU
Uh, your tongue...you might wanna...

JANELLY
What’s wrong?

DATU
Your tongue is bright blue.

JANELLY
Oh. 

DATU
That sticker of a coquí...that wasn’t on your sketchbook before.

JANELLY
I found it upstairs.

DATU
Josie sells those stickers at her store in San Juan.

JANELLY
Huh. What a coincidence.

DATU and JANELLY whisper until LYDIA’s entrance.

DATU
You were just in San Juan, weren’t you?

JANELLY
You know about the vortex?

DATU
I do.

JANELLY
I knew there was something on the wall of that office. I just didn’t think it was a teleporting tapestry.

DATU
Teleporting’s wild, huh?

JANELLY
Crossing an ocean?

DATU
Just like that.

JANELLY
In an instant.

LYDIA approaches.

DATU
Hey, Lydia.

LYDIA
Hey  Uh, what are you two whispering about?

DATU
Oh, nothing. 

LYDIA
Janelly? Why are your sleeves drenched?

JANELLY
Oh. Forgot to pull them up before washing my hands.

LYDIA
Did you just eat a blueberry piragua?

JANELLY
Ha! A piragua in April! That’s so funny. (Giggles) Well, uh...gotta go. Late for rehearsal. But maybe first I’ll take a look in the bathroom mirror and deal with all this blue stuff.

JANELLY rushes off.

LYDIA
That was strange.

DATU
Oh, nothing surprises me anymore.

2018. TAÍNO COMICS AND GAMES - NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

JOSIE, ALEXA, an BENI hover over JOSIE’s computer.

JOSIE
So, then we’re related through these three siblings here. 

BENI
Lupito, Elba, and Manolo.

JOSIE
Elba. 

ALEXA
Elba delivered Manolo. She was only a few years older than us. 

BENI
He was like an hour old. He was born while we were there.

JOSIE
Amazing.

BENI
We also met our sixth great-grandfather,  your fifth great-grandfather, Idrissa. He could really play the drums.

ALEXA
We saw him play in Senegal. 

JOSIE
Senegal.

BENI
And he was a storyteller.

ALEXA
A griot.

JOSIE
Idrissa. Let me see. Idrissa...Idrssa...

ALEXA
You won’t find him. He’s listed as Gabriel.

BENI
They changed his name when...they took him from Senegal.

JOSIE
Oh. He was enslaved.

JOSIE pushes back in her chair.

JOSIE
I wouldn’t know any of this by reading the name Gabriel Martinez on a screen. I’m alive because he—Idrissa—survived. 

ALEXA
We all are.

2018. THE VENTURA HOME - THE DINING ROOM. NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

MUSIC: "HOME" TRANSITION .

CLARA
More yuca, Benito?

BENI
Yes, please.

RAMIRO
You want to tell them, or should I?

ALEXA
Tell us what?

CLARA
We’re going to go to Puerto Rico this summer.

ALEXA / BENI
Really!

RAMIRO
It’s been a while since you two have been there.

ALEXA
Uh, yeah. It’s been such a long time.

CLARA
You probably don’t even remember when we visited Old San Juan.

BENI
Oh. I think I remember what it’s like.

CLARA
I wonder if the Tibes ceremonial site in Ponce has opened back up since the hurricane. That might be fun, imagining what life was like for the Taínos. 

ALEXA
Yeah, we could do that.

RAMIRO
Of course, we’ll visit family in Loiza and Ponce.

CLARA
But we’ll find time to relax too. Travel can take a lot out of you.

ALEXA and BENI hold back laughter.

CLARA
What’s so funny?

BENI
Nothing.

ALEXA
Too bad we can’t teleport there.

RAMIRO
Teleport? From here to Puerto Rico?

CLARA
Wouldn’t that be nice?

THE TIMESTORM. ANOTHER DIMENSION.

HORACIO
A portal to Puerto Rico would be nice.

ATABEY
Where would you want to arrive?

HORACIO
La playita near my parents house in Guayama. La Mina waterfall in El Yunque. Y Teatro Tapia en Viejo San Juan where I saw the opera Il Pirata. The lighthouse ruins in Aguadilla. There was this fruit stand on the road from Guayama to Ponce where this woman would bring out a fresh coconut, her husband would use a machete to slice off the top, and then she’d put a straw in it and you’d drink it down just like that. Or maybe—

ATABEY
You’d like to cross the island. 

HORACIO
Yes, I’d go across all of Puerto Rico.

ATABEY
As the twins will.

HORACIO
Sí, sí. Soon.

CREDITS

MUSIC: THEME SONG: "IN THE TIMESTORM" (INSTRUMENTAL).

NARRATION
Thanks for listening to the season 2 finale of Timestorm. This episode of Timestorm was written and directed by Dania Ramos with audio engineering, sound design, original music by Michael Aquino.  

The role of Alexa Ventura was played by Leilany Figueroa. Beni Ventura was played by Claudio Venancio. Josie was played by Angelica Ubiera. Janelly was played by Frances Ramos. Sonia was played by Jessica Bracken. Horacio Méndez was played by Orlando Segarra. Atabey was played by Alicia Rivas. Datu was played by Joel Arandia. Ramiro Ventura was played by Walter Rodriguez. Clara Ventura. This episode also featured Aaron Catano Saez.

Timestorm is produced by Cocotazo Media and is a proud member of TRAX.

If you enjoy the show, ask your parents to subscribe to Timestorm on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or the Kids Listen App.

We want to acknowledge the support that you, our listeners, have given us. We’re truly grateful for every message, review, share-out, performance of our theme song, and donation we’ve received. Thank you! 

Timestorm is produced in Essex County, New Jersey, which is situated on the traditional territory of the Leni Lenape people.

As always, thanks for listening.

ATABEY
Witness. Find. Remember.

END OF TIMESTORM - EPISODE 20: INSTANT