Bonus: Season 1 Recap

Hey there. It’s Dania Ramos, series creator of Timestorm. A lot has changed in the world since we dropped our last episode back in March. A lot has probably changed for you and your family as well. The team behind Timestorm hopes that your staying safe and strong as we all continue to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

A bell rings into a whoosh.

MUSIC: NARRATION MUSIC.

NARRATION
Now, we’re going to shift gears a bit because we have a couple of exciting announcements about Timestorm. We’re happy to share that Timestorm is now officially part of PRX’s TRAX — a podcast network just for you. That’s right. TRAX will feature free, entertaining, on-demand, audio content for ages nine to thirteen. Please stay tuned after the episode to learn more about TRAX. And we can also now share that Timestorm season two launches on June ninth. And we can’t wait to share it with you. If you’ve already listened to the first season, it’s possible that it’s been a few months since you experienced the adventures of the Ventura twins. That’s why we’re bringing you this season recap. Think of it as a refresher about how much the twins have done, how far they traveled, who they’ve met, and who they’ll soon meet.

MUSIC: NARRATION MUSIC ENDS.

THE TIMESTORM. ANOTHER DIMENSION.

A thunderclap. Then a zap into a buzz.

ATABEY:
Twins. Twelve years old.

HORACIO:
Kids? The mission isn't a game.

ATABEY:
And it's a mission that you can't meet alone, Lieutenant Méndez. You need help. Besides, these aren't just any children, they're your family.

A channel change. ATABEY taps into the Ventura twins on earth. ALEXA and BENI’S distorted voices are heard in the timestorm.

ALEXA:
It's your turn to load the dishwasher, Beni.

BENI:
I want to finish reading this comic book. You'd probably like this one, Alexa. The main character's Puerto Rican like us.

ALEXA:
Let me see. Take Back Time. American soldier Lieutenant Horacio Méndez is fighting a war on a foreign shore when he's pulled through an inter-dimensional portal into a timestorm.

ALEXA:
I don't do inter-dimensional portals.

A dramatic thunderclap. ALEXA and BENI shout as they travel through the portal.

ALEXA:
What just happened?

BENI:
Where are we?

HORACIO:
It worked!

ALEXA and BENI yell in shock.

HORACIO:
Perdón. You're probably confused. But there's no need to be frightened. I can’t believe you're here! Twins. Benito and Alexa Ventura. Tremendous!

ALEXA:
Do we know you?

HORACIO:
My name is Horacio. Somos primos.

BENI:
Cousins? 

ALEXA:
Yeah, right.

A whoosh.

ALEXA:
You're asking us to travel in time and change history.

HORACIO:
Not change. The mission is to witness, find, and remember history. Too many moments and people from our culture have been overlooked. Lost. Forgotten. Your parents and generations before them were all born in Puerto Rico.

ALEXA:
Yeah. But we never lived there.

HORACIO:
Our ancestors came not just from the Caribbean, but from Africa and Europe as well. All this is in our blood, part of our identity wherever we are. 

ALEXA:
I'll stick to New Jersey two thousand seventeen, thanks.

HORACIO:
You can witness pivotal moments, find the people who blazed our culture's path. Here. Take this. A barometer. Made of bronze. See the labels along the edge? 

BENI:
Very dry, fair, change, rain, stormy. 

HORACIO:
When a time portal opens, another zone appears to complete the circle.

The barometer buzzes.

BENI:
There it is. T-e-m-p-u-s. 

BENI/ALEXA:
Tempus.

HORACIO:
This is what time sounds like.

A dramatic thunderclap.

RAMIRO:
It's gaining strength. It might become a hurricane tonight.

CLARA:
Irma a week and a half ago, and now this storm…it's Minerva, right?

RAMIRO:
Maria.

A whoosh.

ALEXA:
Are you always going to walk around with that barometer now? You want the timestorm to be real. Live in a fantasy where you don't have to deal with reality.

BENI:
The timestorm is reality. Just different than we're used to.

ALEXA:
Time travel is impossible.

A whoosh.

DATU:
Hey, Beni! Janelly! How's it going?

BENI | JANELLY:
Hi, Datu. | Fine.

DATU:
We've got some new games in the back.

JANELLY:
Ooh! Let's go check them out.

JANELLY and BENI walk down the aisle.

JANELLY:
Alexa?

BENI:
What are you doing here?

ALEXA:
Written and created by L. J. Ortega. 

BENI:
Take Back Time is the only thing she's ever published.

ALEXA:
Do you know what this last page means? She will change everything. Who's she supposed to be?

A DIGITAL SPACE.

A voicemail beep.

DATU:
It's Datu. Seems like both Ventura twins are fans of L. J. Ortega now.

A whoosh.

ALEXA:
Hey, Ma?

CLARA:
Si, mi amor. 

ALEXA:
Are we related to anyone who fought in Vietnam?

CLARA:
Here. Let me check our Heredity account.

CLARA types.

CLARA:
Let's see...military service. There's my Tío Fermín. And on your father's side of the family…Lieutenant Horacio Méndez. What a shame. 

ALEXA:
Missing in action.

CLARA:
A helicopter pilot. 

COMPUTER:
Alert update…

WEATHER REPORTER:
The latest from the Caribbean: Maria is now a category five hurricane.

CLARA: 
That storm looks like a monster.

FLASHBACK

HORACIO: 
Think of what’s happened in Puerto Rico. How this hurricane's changed everything.

A subsonic drop.

ALEXA:
"She will change everything." 'She' is Maria.

BENI:
Maria who?

ALEXA:
The hurricane. 

A subsonic drop with a whoosh. Rain and barometer buzz.

BENI:
It’s glowing purple! It's time. Ready?

ALEXA:
I'm so ready.

A dramatic thunderclap. ALEXA and BENI shout as they travel through the portal.

 

2017. INSIDE THE TIMESTORM. ANOTHER DIMENSION.

ALEXA and BENI laugh as they land.

There's a zap into cheering at a baseball game, which is shown on the helicopter windshield.

ALEXA:
The windshield turns into a screen?

BENI:
It's like a private movie theatre.

HORACIO:
Bueno, I don’t control the transmissions.

BENI:
Who does?

HORACIO:
Atabey.

A zap.

ATABEY:
I told you not to call me that. That's not my name. I don’t require a name. I simply am. I exist outside of the physical realm.

A whoosh indicates the twins' clothing change.

BENI:
Whoa! I wish it was that easy to get dressed for school.

ATABEY:
The clothing the timestorm provides for you holds the knowledge you’ll need for your journey. The language and customs of the time and place you visit.

HORACIO:
Your quests will be to meet certain people and witness certain moments. And then retrieve artifacts that will help preserve that history.

A whoosh.

ATABEY:
Your quest: Retrieve a plea for equality from San Juan, Puerto Rico in eighteen thirty-eight.

A subsonic drop.

Students use chalk to write on slates.

ALEXA
A pleasure to meet you, Maestra Cordero.

CELESTINA
Girls, please welcome Aleksandra to our class.

STUDENTS
Bienvenida.

CELESTINA
Román, please see this correspondence makes its way to the newspaper office.

CELESTINA hands ROMÁN the paper.

ROMÁN
It will be at La Gaceta within a quarter of an hour.

A whoosh.

PEÑA
How delusional must this woman be to think La Gaceta would publish such a desperate notice? Here’s what I think of it.

PEÑA crumbles the paper.

BENI:
That's him there. Peña y Ruiz.

BENI:
Look! The paper is still there in his front pocket.

ALEXA:
Celestina's plea. Get it, Beni!

BENI grabs the paper.

HORACIO:
You completed the quest in just under eight hours. You'll be back for your next quest before you—

A dramatic thunderclap.

VOICE:
(distorted) ...message.

A cell phone beeps.

DATU:
Hey, Josie. It's me. Datu. I hope you're okay...just know that the store in Newark is doing fine. Talk soon? I hope.

A cell phone beeps.

MS. THOMPSON:
(via phone) Hi, Mrs. Ventura. It’s Ms. Thompson, Alexa and Beni’s social studies teacher. The twins seemed...a little off today. Beni didn't have his report and...both of them fell asleep in class. Now, I know a lot of my students are waiting to hear from family down in Puerto Rico. I'll be devoting all of tomorrow to a discussion about Hurricane Maria.

A swoosh.

CLARA:
Honestly, with everything that’s been happening, we can’t let this hurricane completely disrupt our lives.

A swoosh.

ALEXA:
This is getting out of control. Keeping all this a secret. Making excuses for being super tired all the time. We need to plan out these trips.

ALEXA and BENI laugh as they land in the timestorm.

HORACIO:
Hola, primos. Clothing.

A whoosh indicates the twins' clothing change.

HORACIO:
Stylish.

ATABEY:
Your quest: Retrieve a broken promise from Ponce. Quest begins now.

A swoosh.

BRINDIS DE SALAS:
Me llamo Claudio Brindis de Salas Garrido. I will teach you, Lola. But only if you commit to the violin, to make it your life's passion.

YOUNG LOLA:
I promise.

A swoosh.

LOLA:
Ah. New students.

COSME:
Benito y Aleksandra.

LOLA:
Bueno? Who's first?

A swoosh.

LOLA:
I made a promise once. To dedicate my life to music. Of course, it was years ago.

A swoosh.

SATURNINA:
A little girl made a promise. You're a woman now, Lola. And a musician's life is not for you. 

SATURNINA grabs the bow out of ALEXA'S hand.

LOLA / ALEXA:
My bow! / Wait!

SATURNINA cracks the bow in two.

ALEXA / BENI / LOLA:
It's broken.

The barometer buzzes.

BENI:
Glowing blue. This bow is the artifact. It's switching to purple. The portal's opening.

A dramatic thunderclap.

ALEXA and BENI shout as they travel through the portal.

BENI:
I kinda feel like I just stole something.

ALEXA:
So, how is retrieving an artifact different from, you know, theft?

ATABEY:
In the original timeline, Lola never saw the bow again. Artifact attained.

ALEXA and BENI yell as they travel through the portal.

CLARA:
Ay, the neighborhood is changing, isn’t it?

RAMIRO:
It happens all the time. Beni, remember how upset you were about the electronics store closing down? And then Taíno Comics and Games opened in that space and now you couldn’t be happier. 

BENI: 
Hey, can we stop there on the way home?

A swoosh.

DATU
It’s a one-of-a-kind LJ Ortega original sketch.

CLARA:
Wow, Datu. I didn’t realize how much the store has changed since it opened last year.

A swoosh.

DATU:
Alexa was just asking if we could move the gaming room upstairs, and then turn the back area into storage for your hurricane relief donations.

BENI:
Wait a minute—

CLARA:
Datu, that would be amazing.

BENI:
I just wish you had talked to me about it, Alexa.

ALEXA:
I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to leave you out.

BENI:
You know this is my place. It’s just…I feel safe here.

CLARA:
Beni...

ALEXA:
But it’s not the ONLY place you feel safe, right?

BENI:
I’ve got to have my guard up at school all the time. But not here. Datu, he takes care of me. Takes care of ALL of us!

A distorted voicemail beep.

DATU:
Hey, Josie, it’s me, Datu. I don’t know if you got my message from last week. I hope to hear back from you soon.

A swoosh.

JANELLY:
What is happening? First, Thad wants to hang out at Taíno’s and now Alexa and Sonia? And...and Datu is...is canceling our entire gaming space? Where are we supposed to go? Are we postponing game nights? What about our ongoing sessions?

JANELLY stands, sliding back her chair.

JANELLY:
Just another thing that’s changing, I guess.

SFX: SWOOSH

BENI:
Remember how things used to be?

ALEXA:
The four of us together all the time. Do you think Sonia and Janelly will give up on us?

BENI:
I hope not.

A dramatic thunderclap. ALEXA and BENI shout as they travel through the portal.

BENI:
Where are we going?

ATABEY:
The seventies.

HORACIO:
Groovy.

A barometer buzz.

ATABEY:
Your quest: Retrieve an invisible threat from Rio Piedras in nineteen seventy-five. Quest begins now.

ALEXA, BENI, and MONSI exit into the hallway.

MONSI:
So, you two don’t go to my school.

BENI:
We’re actually here as...guests...because we’re thinking about entering next year's fair. 

ALEXA:
Yeah, I did a science fair a couple of years ago. You know, back in the early seventies.

BENI laughs.

MONSI
Last year, I did an exhibit on mold. I love seeing the invisible world become visible. 

ALEXA/BENI:
Invisible?

A swoosh.

SEÑORA RAMIREZ:
I’ve been up and down these hallways looking for you, Monsi. Latest I've heard from one of the student assistants is that all but one of the judges aren't here because they've been...well, vomiting.

MONSI:
If all of the judges are puking, I’d bet there’s a microbe to blame.

MONSI opens the door. PROFESOR REYES lowers his newspaper.

PROFESOR REYES:
This room is reserved for judges. Science is serious.

BENI:
As serious as barfing.

ALEXA:
Uh, there's a rumor that's what the other judges are doing right now. Is it true?

PROFESOR REYES:
Si. Si. No sé que pasó.

ALEXA bumps into the water cooler.

ALEXA:
Whoops. Didn't see the water cooler there.

BENI:
Good thing it's almost empty.

PROFESOR REYES:
It was pretty full yesterday before the judges drained it making pot after pot of coffee.

BENI grabs the coffee pot.

BENI:
Hey, there's still a little bit of coffee in here. 

MONSI:
There is?

MONSI:
All we need is a few drops.

MONSI pours the last bit of coffee into the cup.

ALEXA:
Beni!

MONSI, ALEXA, and BENI rush out of the room.

PROFESOR REYES:
Hey!

SFX: THUNDERCLAP.

MONSI:
...and so, you see, the stain helps to identify microbes.

BENI picks up a glass test tube and pours coffee into it.

BENI:
Know what? I'll pour the rest of this coffee in here - just for fun.

BENI places the stopper on the test tube.

A barometer buzzes. A thunderclap.

BENI:
We’ve got it.

ALEXA:
It's been fun, Monsi.

BENI:
So groovy-

A dramatic thunderclap. ALEXA and BENI shout as they travel through the portal.

The artifact emerges, making a rhythm.

BENI:
Here you go: an invisible danger. Not the day-old coffee, but the bacteria in the coffee.

A whoosh sound indicates that that artifact floats into the cloud.

A cassette tape abruptly stops.

BENI:
Secret audio of the elusive L. J. Ortega!

ALEXA:
Wait. What?

A swoosh.
A cassette tape abruptly stops.

ALEXA:
Um, what did we just listen to? And what part of that was supposed to be L. J. Ortega?

A swoosh.

JANELLY
I get this feeling Beni's keeping something from me. 

SONIA:
It's the same thing with Alexa. It’s like both of them have a secret.

A swoosh.

CLARA:
Oh! There’s a new video on the Ponce Se Levanta group.

CLARA’S phone begins streaming a video.

CLARA:
That's Mami and Papi's neighbor, Leti. They’re okay. Ay! Gracias a Dios! 

BENI, ALEX, and RAMIRO rush into the room.

BENI:
(overlapping) Abuela y abuelo are okay?

ALEXA:
For real?

RAMIRO:
Ay! That’s such good news!

CLARA
I know!

A distorted voicemail beep.

VOICE:
Please leave your message.

DATU:
Josie! It’s Datu. You should see this place. I know the timing needs to be right for your return to Newark, but I hope that time is soon.

Voicemail alert.

JOSIE:
Hi, Datu. It...it’s Josie. Thanks for leaving all those voicemails. De verdad, gracias. I was finally able to listen to them. So...I know it's been a while since I’ve been in New Jersey, but I think it's time. I'm coming back to Newark.

A beep.

JOSIE walks onstage. The crowd applauds and hollers.

JOSIE:
Hey, Newark! For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Josie Nevarez, owner of Taíno Comics and Games. If you’re a regular at the comic book store, Datu might look more familiar to you. He was running things while I was in Puerto Rico this past year -

A swoosh. A distorted voicemail beep.

JANELLY:
You know, there’s something that still bothers me about Take Back Time. The last page. 

BENI:
What about it?

JANELLY:
She will change everything. You ever figure out what it means?

BENI:
Uh, well...I only know what L. J. Ortega said: It means—

BENI/JANELLY:
—what it means.

JANELLY:
It’s just a weird ending, I guess. I keep wondering about whatever happened to Lieutenant Méndez out there floating in the timestorm.

A swoosh.

ATABEY:
Sounds like you think they are ready.

HORACIO:
We’ll give them the quest we’ve been holding onto. The one that’s going to require traveling to multiple locations. To multiple centuries.

ATABEY:
Come spring, when the twins return to us— 

HORACIO:
Spring! I keep forgetting it’ll have been six months for them.

ATABEY:
A lot can happen in six months.

A subsonic drop.

MUSIC: "IN THE TIMESTORM" (INSTRUMENTAL).

NARRATION:
This season recap included writing by me, Dania Ramos and Andrew Siañez-De La O. With sound design and music by Michael Aquino. You can find a list of all of the voices featured on this episode in our show notes.

Hey listeners, we want to feature you in an upcoming episode. To learn more about how to submit a share-out, please visit Timestorm Series dot com. And while you’re there, you can also check out links to our episode resources and transcripts.

Timestorm is produced by Cocotazo Media and is a proud member of TRAX from PRX. Support for TRAX comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

And now a quick message for our adult audience. We hope that you’ll consider becoming a member of our Patreon community, where you access fun bonus and behind-the-scenes content for younger listeners. If you’re not in a position to join us over at Patreon at this time, we completely understand. You can still support us by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser.

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

Timestorm is recorded and 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.

MUSIC: NARRATION MUSIC.

NARRATION:
Thanks for sticking around. The team behind Timestorm is dedicated to bringing you and your family, free, quality, inclusive storytelling for middle grades. You’ll have access to Timestorm wherever you usually listen. But now that we’re part of the TRAX network from PRX, you’ll be able to find a wealth of free, audio content for ages nine to thirteen all in one place. If you’re interested in learning more about TRAX, check the show notes for a link to sign up for the newsletter. We’ll be back in your feed with our season two trailer in May. Until then, stay safe, stay strong, take care of yourself, and thanks for listening.

MUSIC: NARRATION MUSIC ENDS.