Episode 5: Ecuador

When a tragic event befalls the Jones family, Daniel begins to have complicated feelings about the appearance of the tunnel in his life.

Written by Vera Greentea and Jasmine Brown. Co-produced with Mike Umile. Music by aBird. Art by Silvan Borer.

Find more information about MY PARALLEL LIFE at https://www.jumpycatstudios.com/.  If you like the show and want to buy us a coffee, you may do so at https://ko-fi.com/jumpycatstudios.

Transcript

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Transcript of: 

MY PARALLEL LIFE 

SEASON 1, EPISODE 5 

Ecuador 

By Jasmine Brown and Vera Greentea 

RECORDER CLICKS ON 

DANIEL: I’m really glad you’re okay, Mom. Your job is so hard, you’re responsible for so many… 

ELEANOR: It’s normal to be afraid, Danny boy, but you should know that I am well trained and I would never put myself in a position of danger. 

DANIEL: But you can’t always control that, can you? 

ELEANOR: No, I can’t. I can only do as much as there is to do but after that, it’s fate. 

DANIEL: What if you stayed home. Just locked the doors. Never faced the outside world. Wouldn’t that subvert fate? 

ELEANOR: Sure, maybe. But is anything worth never leaving the house? 

DANIEL: Me. 

ELEANOR: Yes, you are worth it, Danny boy. And I’ll always be right here for you, and so you don’t have to worry. Would you like to visit me tonight, at the hospital? Would that make you feel better? 

DANIEL: I… no, Mom. It’s okay. 

ELEANOR: Thanks for telling me how you were feeling, baby. I’ll be back in the morning. 

RECORDER CLICKS OFF

THEME MUSIC: PATAGONIA NIGHTS BY ABIRD 

RECORDER CLICKS ON 

DANIEL: (Shouting) Dad? 

TYRONE: She hasn’t called yet. We’re waiting for word from the Embassy. 

DANIEL: It’s been two days! How… how could they not have found her already? 

TYRONE: C’mere, son. Sometimes things happen in life 

DANIEL: Stop. 

TYRONE: I need you to listen, son. We don’t know where your mother is. 

DANIEL: It’s not fair. Nothing is-she shouldn’t have...  why did she have to go there? 

TYRONE: This was her dream-- 

DANIEL: I know, I know! It’s just not… j- why couldn’t she have a dream here? She could be... with us. And safe. I keep thinking about ways I could have--

TYRONE: No, Daniel, no. You’ll drive yourself crazy with those kinds of thoughts.

DANIEL: Easy for you to say. 

TYRONE: What’s that supposed to mean? 

DANIEL: Nothing. 

TYRONE: Daniel... let’s get one thing clear. No matter what’s going on between your mother and I, I still… I want her to be OK. Of course I do. 

DANIEL: I know. (PAUSE) Are you scared? 

TYRONE: Terrified. (PAUSE) C’mere, kid. It’s okay to be scared. We’ve got each other now. We can be scared together. 

RECORDER CLICKS OFF 

RECORDER CLICKS ON 

IPHONE RING 

LOLA: You know, I’m getting really sick of this hot/cold dance, Jones. Can we establish a time limit on communication return? Because, otherwise, when I no longer see my best friend regularly and he starts to develop the habit of ignoring my calls until he wants something from me, I get a little miffed. 

DANIEL: Uh, my mom, uh… there was an earthquake. I_I don’t know if you heard. We haven’t… we-we can’t reach her. It’s been three days. 

LOLA: Oh... fuck me. I’m so sorry, Daniel… I was being... god, that sucks. 

DANIEL: Yeah... no, I-I… know. I just... I don’t know. I really don’t know what to… it’s insane. I’m going... a little nuts, here. 

LOLA: Do you want to talk about it? 

DANIEL: I really, really don’t. Anything would be preferable. 

LOLA: OK. Um. Well. Julia submitted a blind item piece about some inane activities that apparently happened at the dance. Can you believe it? What does she think we are? The Enquirer? 

DANIEL: The one thing worse than the review, the gossip column. (PAUSE) I’d almost forgotten about the dance. You didn’t go. 

LOLA: Yes, I told you I wouldn’t. These troglodytes don’t merit hair spray and stilettos. (PAUSE) Listen. If I… if I told my parents about what was going on they'd probably be able to drive me up this weekend. What do you say? Jones-Velasquez slumber party? 

DANIEL: Um, yeah... no...that-that sounds nice but I think my dad wants like... family time. 

LOLA: Oh, right, yeah. Of course. 

DANIEL: Listen, I’ve got to...I’ll talk to you later, Lo. 

LOLA: Um, right. Yeah. Let me know about your mom, ok? 

DANIEL: Yeah, got it. Um, well. Uh. Bye. 

LOLA: Uh, yeah. Bye. 

IPHONE CLICK 

RECORDER CLICKS OFF 

RECORDER CLICKS ON 

TUNNEL NOISES (WHISPERS) 

DANIEL: I’m… in the tunnel again. Is this pathetic? Or is this what the tunnel is for? To get back – to have access - to a life that doesn’t suck. A life where… my best friend is back to normal. My house has more than two rooms. A mom… that’s definitely alive. But, then, if I have access to all these good and wholesome things, why do I keep coming back to my shitty life? What would happen if I just… don’t? I’ll just become a missing kid in my original life… and my dad will have lost both his wife and his son. Could I even do that to him? I don’t think— God, is guilt the ultimate impulse for everything? Why… why does this tunnel even exist? Is it better or worse for me that I can just pop in here and just see my mom looking so healthy and mom… like? 

PATAGONIA NIGHTS PLAYS 

Is there a reason why I get to see my life both ways? Do others get a chance like this? Like… it feels like such a blessing right now… but… 

MUSIC AND WHISPERING ENDS

ELEANOR: Daniel! Why are you in the closet? 

DANIEL: (sounds of surprise and falling out THUMP) N-no reason! Geez! You-you freaked me out! What are you doing? 

ELEANOR: I’m hanging up your pants, Danny boy. Are you okay? You haven’t hid in the closet since you were about seven, afraid of—what were you afraid of again? 

DANIEL: (sighing) Pigeons. 

ELEANOR: That’s right! Pigeons. Never did understand that one. 

DANIEL: (mumbling) A pigeon stole my Dunkaroo. 

ELEANOR: (laughing now) I remember now. Oh, you were inconsolable for days. Your father had to hang up curtains all over the house so you wouldn’t have to see them flying about, even though I thought it would be better if you got used to them again. That man… oh, he always had your back. 

Mine too… We should always do our best to be good to him. 

DANIEL: Right. 

MUSIC (SEE YOU ON THE WAY DOWN) PLAYS 

ELEANOR: Listen, baby. Whatever it is that’s got you so worked up over the past few days, just... remember that pigeon. Give it time. These things tend to work themselves out if we let them. 

DANIEL: Mom. 

ELEANOR: Oh! Yes, your pants. Uhm, are you planning to hang out there all afternoon? 

DANIEL: Just for a little while longer, I think. 

ELEANOR: Okay, kiddo. I’ll come back later. Do you want me to close this—okay. 

SOUND OF CLOSET CLOSING

MUSIC FADES 

TUNNEL WHISPERS RESUME 

DANIEL: Ugh, what am I doing? I should really be home with my Dad, not cutting school and definitely not cutting out of… our life. He’s worried out of his mind as much as I am, but he doesn’t get the choice to see her. I should go check on him... 

DOOR OPENING/CLOSING 

WHISPERING FADES/STREET SOUNDS 

DANIEL: What if… what if I take him with me? What if we both go through the tunnel and I take up the life that doesn’t suck— 

PORTER: So, this is where you go when everyone else is working on your behalf. 

DANIEL: What? Porter, what— 

PORTER: I mean, I’m surprised it’s in the middle of some rundown warehouse parking lot, I figured you’d be in some fancy cell phone store or a bakery— 

DANIEL: Who hangs out at cell phone stores? Do you mean, like, an Apple store? 

PORTER: Why are you here? Like, what’s wrong with you? If you wanted to run the newspaper club by yourself, sending in your own overly pretentious articles by email, why even start a freakin’ club and get other people so excited about it? Like, who even cares about wildfires in California right now? You know Jorge didn’t even want to hang out for over a week now because he’s so busy with some- some research for some task you gave him? And you don’t even come to newspaper club! 

DANIEL: So all you care about is people hanging out with you? What are you, so lonely you can’t let your friends have other interests except for you? 

PORTER: Hey, fuck you, man. Alright, who are you to think that you know me? You don’t know shit about me or my friends at all! If Katie and Jorge want to do your lame ass school paper, then they can. I really don’t give a shit. 

DANIEL: You literally chased me into some abandoned lot. You obviously give… a shit. Just what’s your problem with me? 

PORTER: Jesus. You really don’t get it, do you? Katie and Jorge are working their asses off and you just… you like seduced them into this amazing stick it to the man, muckraker bullshit and it’s really just an excuse for you to get an extracurricular line in on your college application while you fuck off around town. I mean what’s gonna happen next? You’re gonna go off into the Ivy Leagues and then what, you’re gonna leave them here to rot and never think about them again? 

DANIEL: Oh...you are so off base, I don’t even know where to start. First of all, I didn’t force anyone to join anything. I had an idea. One I frankly didn’t think any of you were interested in. If Jorge and Katie are feeling taken advantage of, they can quit. 

PORTER: Oh god. Did you know we waited all three years of middle school for them to get funding for a band? That’s what you were asking about that first day, right? What would we ask for if there was an extracurricular budget? I mean, I don’t think any of us are looking to play the trombone now but back then Katie she really researched every instrument. It gets really easy to just... assume things won’t happen. And personally, I couldn’t think of a more boring afternoon activity than writing articles for a school newspaper but... it was nice for them to be asked to join in on something. I’m not like... jealous that they’re doing something boring. I’m mad that they’re wasting their time on something you obviously don’t give a shit about and are going to get shut down before it even really starts. 

DANIEL: Okay, but... wouldn’t that be Katie’s reason to hate me, if anybody? Like why are you the only one who’s pissed? It feels like you’re taking it super personally... 

PORTER: Jesus, Daniel. I was sharing background information. I don’t need annotations or whatever. But why am I not surprised? You don’t get it. 

DANIEL: No, I get it... I-uh… I’m sorry that happened. That does suck.

PORTER: Then show a little more empathy, dude. You’re the reason it’s going to happen again. And what do you have going that’s so much more important than the project you started? 

DANIEL: You’re… fuck. You’re right, OK? Ok. I should be there more often. It wasn’t my intention to be shitty to your friends. And I respect your… weird over-protectiveness of other teenagers. Whatever your reasons. 

PORTER: ... thank you? 

DANIEL: I have... I have issues going on at home. I really don’t want to get into it but it’s... extenuating. 

PORTER: Right. I see. Same old pretentious shit. Well. I gotta get going. 

DANIEL: Fine, you know what? My mom is missing. Is that good enough for you? Am I allowed a moment of humanity? I may not know you, but you don’t know me, Porter. My life’s not as perfect as you think. 

PORTER: (horrified) What? Like, what, she’s been kidnapped? 

DANIEL: She’s… no. She doesn’t live with us and… there was an earthquake. She’s doing a program with Doctors Without Borders in Ecuador, and she got caught in one of those disastrous quakes. 

PORTER: Oh, shit. I-I saw that on tv. She does that kind of shit? That’s… pretty cool. 

DANIEL: What, you thought I was the kid of an investment banker and a supermodel? 

PORTER: Definitely not a supermodel. 

DANIEL: That’s just cold, man. 

PORTER: Maybe like… catalogue model. 

DANIEL: How did you know the muckrakers, anyway?

PORTER: I mean… I also attend high school. That’s one of those… common multiple choice answers. 

DANIEL: Listen, I-I have to 

PORTER: Yeah, sure. Whatever. 

DANIEL: But tomorrow… I will be there at the newspaper. With Katie and Jorge. No more writing my articles offsite. Or, at least edit them there. 

PORTER: Good. I’ll... I’ll see you tomorrow. And uh… good luck finding your Mom. 

RECORDER CLICKS OFF 

RECORDER CLICKS ON 

DOOR OPENS TO THE APARTMENT 

DANIEL: Dad— 

TYRONE: She hasn’t called yet, Danny boy. But I’m in touch with her supervisor. He said that the lines might be up by tonight, so they’ll be able to track her. How was school? I’m making mac and cheese. It’s not as good as your Mom’s, but I thought it might be comforting. 

DANIEL: Yeah, that- that sounds okay, Dad, if… if, you could go back to a life where Mom never left for Ecuador and that we could all be safe in our house and uh, well, I think I found a way— 

TYRONE: (almost a mumble to himself) I remember your Mom put real cheese on this, that’s what made it so good. You want to take the American cheese out of the fridge? 

DANIEL: She uses real cheddar. Plus the powder from the box, and she puts in a lot of garlic powder. But Dad— 

TYRONE: What were you saying before? Sorry, I was reading the directions on thebox. 

DANIEL: You… you need to read directions on how to make box mac’n’cheese? Maybe I should take over— 

TYRONE: Nah, I got this, son. You just relax and tell me how things are going at school. 

DANIEL: No, I was telling you about seeing Mom again. 

TYRONE: Of course we’ll see her again. 

DANIEL: No, Dad, listen to me for a second. Look, I- j- just, let me stir. What if Mom wasn’t in Ecuador? 

COOKING SOUNDS 

TYRONE: Huh? Then, where is she? 

DANIEL: She’s at our house, putting away my pants and probably baking cupcakes or something. 

TYRONE: Oh. Oh, no, Danny boy. Are-are you disassociating? This isn’t my field, but we can go see someone who knows— 

DANIEL: No, no, no, noI don’t need a therapist! This is for real - if we want it to be. You and Mom, back together. Me back at Paulson Prep and all of us back at our awesome house. Remember how it used to be? We can do it— Dad? W-why are you looking at me like that? 

TYRONE: Daniel, I don’t want it like it used to be. It wasn’t… it wasn’t as perfect as you thought. And maybe that was…that was my weakness. I’m trying to change that now. Look, I understand that our new life has its… challenges, with the new school and our smaller apartment… but, I’m happy that I get to see you every day. That I get to cook for you and talk to you… and I’m happy that your Mom gets to fulfill her dream. 

DANIEL: But Dad—

TYRONE: No, sit for a second, Danny. You know that your mother has dreamt of joining Doctors Without Borders since before she met me. And you also know she’s remarkable under pressure, she’s unflappable in emergency situations, she’s exactly the kind of person people need when there’s a disaster. She puts 100 percent of herself into making sure everyone around her is safe and inspired and ready to take on more than they ever thought they could. Do you understand? She’s doing what she was put on Earth to do. She did it for us for decades, which is why you and Abby are such special kids. I love her so much, Danny boy, and for that reason I’m happy to separate – and yes, it’s a little lonely when your wife is basically a superhero – but I would not change a single cell on Eleanor’s body. 

MUSIC (TOWER OF BABEL) PLAYS 

Danny, I know you’re frightened for your mom, but if anyone would know what to do during a catastrophe, it would be her. It’s not right for me to keep her here when-when I know she’s out there saving lives. 

DANIEL: And what… you’d be okay to continue living this life if she… i-if she… dies? You wouldn’t rewind and tell her not to go? 

TYRONE: I have already made my decision, Danny, luckily I don’t have to make it again, because no, I don’t know if I’d be strong enough, but I hope I would be. 

DANIEL: But that’s what I’m saying, Dad! You can change your decision! 

TYRONE: Then, I’m saying to you right now - I will not change it. Your Mom is where God put her and I will never - not anymore - stand in the way of that. 

DANIEL: What does God have anything to do with this-- 

MUSIC ENDS 

PHONE RINGS 

PAUSE

PHONE RINGS AGAIN. 

SOMEONE RUSHING TO GET THE PHONE 

TYRONE: Hello? Hello-- Eleanor. Oh, thank God. 

MAIN THEME/PATAGONIA NIGHTS PLAYS 

TIM: My Parallel Life is written and produced by Vera Greentea and Jasmine Brown. The audio for this podcast is recorded and mixed by Mike Umile. Music is created and performed by aBIRD. My Parallel Life stars LC Witter, Julian Thomas, Shiree Nicholas Christopher, Steph Marie Alvarez, Louis Walker, Jayme Face, Timothy Rodriguez, Rajiv Miller, Siera Louis Gene and Jasmine Brown. Website and credits are by Timothy Rodriguez. 

To learn more about My Parallel Life and the fantastic crew of people who make it, visit our website: jumpycatstudios.com. If you’d like to help us spread the word, please give us a five star review and tell your friends to subscribe at any major podcast platform. This episode’s a wrap, see you in another dimension!