Sound Neighbors

Our story takes place on a touristy island in the Puget Sound.

We open our story at the height of summer, when the streets are packed with locals, part-time residents, and tourists on holiday. We see a pleasant village, with families having fun and engaging with the local businesses and entertainers. This montage is cut quickly and contrasted to ‘The Day After Labor Day’, when all of the people (except our full-timers) are gone. We see empty streets and sidewalks, businesses closed. The weather is grim and grey. The island is in hibernation.

We are then introduced to our main characters, the squatters. Tommy, a grungy late 20’s Polynesian-American acts as a leader in the group. Ziggy, an African-American woman of a similar age and Tommy’s closest friend. Lawrence, a white punk with drinking issues. Dez, a tough and destructive street woman with a dog. And Jonas, a juvenile run away who clings to them.

After another disappointing eviction in the city, they are in search of a new home. They are encouraged to try squatting one of the island communities as the ‘snowbirds’ have all left. While the core group debates the merits of this idea, Tommy finds his partner Steph has no interest and wishes to return home to her family, breaking up their relationship. Upset but determined to continue on, Tommy and the group steal a boat to find a new home. Upon landing on the shore they find a vacation home with a fully furnished basement recreation room. The group agree that this is their new home.

When Lawrence smashes a ‘swear jar’ revealing hundreds of dollars, they decide to explore the village while Dez explores the surrounding neighborhood. In the village they are disappointed to find the town is mostly closed. They then enter the open General Store. The owners, the kind (if dull witted) Gene and his anxiety-stricken wife Cindy gently interrogate our protagonists, who invent identities and connect themselves to the owners of the home they are squatting. They leave to visit a local bar.

Out of place at the bar, a drunken Lawrence picks a fight with a local over his pro-police hat forcing them to retreat embarrassed. Rising tensions among our group are tampered after hitching a ride back to their neighborhood by a crabber, Fred, a middle aged man with a European accent, and his young daughter. The hermitic Fred spends most of the ride raving menacingly about his love of crabs. Upon returning to their new home, they discover that Dez has been looting homes, including Fred’s bunker.

Next morning, while Dez is out walking her dog, a suspicious Fred follows her home.