Lulu in Honolulu (11 page)

FIONA

(quiet but angry)

Sanyo will be here in twenty minutes!

(loses her usual calm and yells)

And my set has turned into a circus!

Lulu and Alexis swiftly back away from their parents.

LULU

(quietly to Alexis)

Maybe I'll apologize some other time.

EXT. WATER'S EDGE, HANAUMA BAY—MONDAY MORNING

Hanauma Bay, a horseshoe-shaped bay, used to be the private fishing spot for the Hawaiian royal family. More than 30,000 years ago, coral reefs formed here, and so this safe bay became a natural home for zillions of colorful fish and animals. But after hundreds of years of fishing, Hanauma Bay was turning into a fishy ghost town. Now, the whole bay is protected. The fish and everything living are safe to swim, crawl, wiggle, and not be caught.

The Ohana Camp kids gather around Uncle Akamu and Auntie Moana. The kids are decked out in bathing suits, snorkel masks, and flippers. Lulu, of course, wears her SPF 50 pants and shirt over a bathing suit and a bathing cap squeezed over her wild, shaggy hair.

KENNA

(to Lulu next to her)

Is it true that snorkeling here is like swimming in a fish tank?

LULU

I've never been in a fish tank, but I think it's like swimming in a warm bathtub.

UNCLE AKAMU

Keike
, listen. My three rules and then you go with the fish.
Ekahi
, one: buddy system in the water. No one swims alone.
Elua
, two: don't step on the reef. You'll slice yourself AND crunch any living thing you step on. And
ekolu
, three: absolutely NO
opala
, no trash of any kind, on this sand or in the water. That means no bathroom in this living underwater palace.

KAPONO

What if I have to, ummmm, go?

He lifts his leg, pretending he's a doggie making a pee.

AUNTIE MOANA

You take off the flippers and walk on your big feet to the restrooms.

Kids chuckle.

LIAM

I have a question.

(looks at Lulu)

What happened with you and Watson on your parents' movie yesterday?

Lulu looks at Noelani who shakes her head no. Liam notices.

LIAM

Noelani didn't tell me. Khloe's mom knows my mom and told her about it.

Lulu slunks onto the sand.

LULU

Geez peas. You guys, I was just helping my mom by writing down names of plants and trees on location when Watson took off. He crashed up the set.

KENNA and KAPONO

Uh-oh!

NOELANI

(to Lulu)

And he drenched the actress.

LULU

Yeah. He made the lead actress spill coffee on her ball gown.

Ohana kids shake their heads sadly.

LULU

The worst part is, I really just wanted to help.
Seas the Day
isn't going too well and I keep making everything worse.

MALEKO

(drumming on his fingers on his snorkel mask)

Hey. Lulu. Don't feel bad. I get in trouble, like, all the time for stupid stuff.

Heads nod.

Kids start chatting at once. Everyone has a story about causing mischief and getting busted.

HUUROOO
. The sound from Uncle Akamu's conch shell gets their attention.

UNCLE AKAMU

Now, let's go swimming!

The kids scramble toward the water. Lulu, in her flippers, moves like a duckling taking its first steps. Uncle Akamu walks among the kids and explains habits of certain fish and where they might be found in the bay.

LULU

I want to see a turtle!

UNCLE AKAMU

Honu
, the sea turtles, are shy and rare. Almost extinct. Hard to see.

Lulu SPLATS onto the sand just before the water. She's so close that when the wavelets lap onto the shore, sea froth licks the top of her bathing cap. Noelani smiles. Lulu waves to show she's still alive and crawls the last few feet into the bluest turquoise water.

EXT. IN THE WATER, HANAUMA BAY—FORTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER

Lulu yanks her snorkel tube from her mouth. Noelani comes up to the surface and flips out her snorkel.

LULU

Do we have to go back to shore soon?

Noelani checks her watch.

NOELANI

Yes.

Lulu shoves the snorkel back into her mouth.

LULU

Gheeees peeeees. Ahhh ghaaa tahhh fuuund hooohnooo.

Noelani waves her hand.

NOELANI

What?

Lulu tugs the mouthpiece out just enough to speak.

LULU

I said, geeeeez peas! I gotta find a
honu
!

Noelani grabs Lulu's arm before she plunges down.

NOELANI

I have an idea. Let's just drift, kinda around one place.

LULU

(pulling out the mouthpiece again)

You mean not swim around? OK, let's go to the shallower water near the reefs.

Noelani gives Lulu a thumbs-up and drops underwater.

Lulu lifts her feet off the sea bottom and puts her face into the water.

CUT!! Super quick! You know how in a movie, you sometimes see what the main character is seeing? As if you're in their shoes? It's called a Point of View shot and written POV in the script. It puts the camera where the main character is, so you're watching what their eyes would be seeing. I'm gonna try it. Now back to: ACTION!!

LULU'S POV: A green-blue watery world of reef mountains and kelp forests seems endless. Rays of sunlight dance through the water. An animal kingdom of fish swims free. Parrot fish, goatfish, butterflyfish, and raccoon butterflyfish flick their fins and glide around showing off dazzling neon colors not found in any animals on land.

Lulu and Noelani drift in the current, half floating and half dog-paddling. They pretend to be mermaids, lost in a world far away from their own.

Just when they imagine they are sleeping in the liquid deep, Lulu sees it!

He's oddly shaped compared to the fish, but he's graceful. The sea turtle, a
honu
, swims within ten feet of Lulu and Noelani. His flippers and head look small compared to his big, oval shell. Lulu and Noelani exchange a quick glance at each other, eyes wide inside their masks. They watch the
honu
surface for air and then glide past them. His eyes stare at them for a moment. He's not scared. Just curious.

EXT. HANAUMA BAY SHORE—FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER

Lulu crawls out of the water just as she crawled in. Noelani bounds out, comfortable in flippers as if they were her feet. Uncle Akamu meets them.

LULU

(speaking extra fast)

We saw one! A
honu
! She or, well, maybe he wore a darkish olive-brown shell and floated and drifted with that big, heavy shell on its back.

The twins rush over.

KENNA

You saw a
honu
?

LULU

Yeah. He had flippers for feet and hands. And his skin was greenish and leathery.

Kapono wiggles his fingers in his sister's face.

KAPONO

Like a martian.

Lulu, still on her hands and knees, flops onto her bottom and tugs off her flippers. Uncle Akamu sits down next to her.

LULU

(looks at Uncle Akamu)

You know what?

Uncle Akamu doesn't respond. He stares out at the bay.

LULU

That
honu
wasn't scared of me. She didn't even pull her head into her shell and hide.

Lulu scrunches down her chin and neck and shrugs up her shoulders like a turtle pulling in its head inside a shell.

UNCLE AKAMU

(not taking his eyes off the water)

Honu
can't pull their heads in. That's only land turtles.

LULU

Oh. Well, she looked right at me. She had little black eyes. I felt like she was trying to tell me something.

Uncle Akamu and Lulu sit quietly for a few moments.

UNCLE AKAMU

Sea turtles are believed to symbolize great navigators, who always find their way home again and again.

LULU

Even if the sea is rough and the water is murky?

Uncle Akamu grins.

UNCLE AKAMU

Yes, Lulu, even then.

INT. HARRISON HOUSE ENTRANCE, LIVING ROOM AND
LANAI
—WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

Lulu approaches the front door.

MAYA

(points to Lulu's feet)

Shoes.

Lulu kicks off her grimy, damp shoes.

MAYA

(points to side of the house)

Then shower.

LULU

Why are there so many trucks in the driveway? It's like the whole house needs to be repaired on the same day at the same time.

MAYA

That's your sister. She's planning a party with a fireworks show.

LULU

A WHAT?

MAYA

Maybe you want to talk to her about it.

LULU

(lets out a long sigh)

Talking to Lex about a party is a scary idea.

Lulu races off to the outdoor shower…and to snoop on Alexis's plans.

A stocky, super-tan man walks toward Lulu. He carries a large plastic box filled with various sizes of colorfully wrapped packages. He wears a black shirt with “PELE” written in yellow across the front.

LULU

Excuse me, uuuuumm, Pele?

The man stops.

PELE MAN 1

(grunts out a greeting)

Ya think my name's Pele? HA! That's funny. And so is his and his and his.

The man gestures with his chin toward other men around the huge backyard.

Lulu sees men measuring the ground, rolling out cables, hammering tent poles, and unstacking chairs. Up on the
lanai
, Alexis lies on a chaise, talking on her cell phone.

LULU

Oh. Is Pele the name of your company or something? I didn't know that. But I learned at my Ohana Camp that Pele is the Hawaiian name for the Volcano God.

PELE MAN 1

Smart kid.

Lulu zooms up the
lanai
steps. Alexis punches off her call.

LULU

Lex, what's going on?

ALEXIS

(thrilled with herself)

Très
exciting. Mom put
moi
in charge of a cast and crew party. Right here at our house.

LULU

A what? For what?

ALEXIS

Well, partly thanks to you,
Seas the
Day
is even more behind schedule than ever. The actors are grouchy about working so much. The crew protests every day. Mom thought a party would lift everyone's spirits.

LULU

I wanna help.

ALEXIS

You can't get near this event.

PELE MAN 1

(walking by with a measuring tape)

How close to this
lanai
do ya want the fireworks? We're gonna light up this place like a Christmas tree.

LULU

But it's the middle of summer! Not Christmas. And what about all the
hokus
, ya know, the stars?

Watson, wearing a T-shirt that says “COCONUT” and has an arrow pointing in the direction of his head, sniffs a box of sparklers on the ground near Alexis.

PELE MAN 2

The
hokus
will be a little less bright the night we light these babies!

He shakes rockets he's holding.

Lulu lies down on the ground next to Watson.

LULU

What's so bad about just leaving the glowing stars?

ALEXIS

How can you be against fireworks? That's like totally un-American.

Lulu sits up.

LULU

How can you be against bright stars? That's totally un-Hawaiian. For your information, ancient Polynesians paddled canoes across the ocean to Hawaii just by navigating with stars.

ALEXIS

Not sure what that has to do with a fab Hollywood-style party in Hawaii.

A CARPENTER approaches.

CARPENTER

(to Alexis)

Miss Harrison, where do you want the stage?

LULU

A stage? Who's performing?

ALEXIS