Stones

Stones of Remembrance, aka “Stones,” is a unique comedy with a dramatic thread set in Southern California, Las Vegas, and points in between. In the present day, Clare seeks to solve the separate, but possibly connected, murders of her daughter, Sara, and her husband, Jack. The show, however, progresses through Clare’s memories and capitalizes on the humor that exists in everyday life and interpersonal relationships. License is taken to allow for situations where Clare was not present, as well as more time in the present day, if needed to move the story forward. Stones finds a new way to tell an action-mystery story by dressing it as a comedy but keeps the dramatic thread to avoid the absurd.

The primary characters include the Davids family—Clare, Jack, Tommy, and Sara— and Clare’s best friend, Katie Liu. The family, in addition to their stated occupations, are (spoiler alert) agents of a super-secret intelligence and defense agency, somewhat along the lines of S.H.I.E.L.D. (minus the superheroes). In the present day, Clare is a confident, well-reputed water rights attorney in her mid 40s with wavy red hair and a slim figure. Even though she is competent in both her stated profession and her secret one, she is a “girl”—she blushes a lot, gets emotional, etc. Jack, Clare’s husband, was an attractive economics professor, a potential crush for college juniors taking his classes. He is fit, perhaps even somewhat muscular, but is starting to show his age with fine lines on his face and graying at the temples of his otherwise sandy blonde hair. Tommy—Clare and Jack’s son—is a 21-year-old college senior with strong moral character and a sharp mind. Sara—Clare and Jack’s daughter—was a 19-year-old college sophomore who was killed while traveling abroad during a school break. She was the funny one—witty, silly—and fiercely compassionate.

For casting purposes, note that Clare met Jack and Katie in college, so the memories (and therefore the ages that actors will need to plan) will span from 18 to 47. Memories of the children, of course, can go back as far as birth.

The pilot will open with a prologue:

As the westbound caravan moved across the desert, everyone was fixated on a star that was shining brighter than any other. A young servant, however, had her eyes drawn to another celestial body—a shooting star that seemed to be following her. As she settled in for the night, the sweet teenager watched the fireball in the sky. Her eyes widened, and her pupils dilated as it drew closer and closer.

THUD! It landed squarely between her feet.

The young woman scuttled backward away from it and watched. The meteorite did nothing, so she tentatively approached it and tapped it with her walking stick. It remained in its azoic state, so she touched it and quickly drew her hand back. The glowing hot rock seared her hand. The servant continued watch “it” as she dressed her wound, and she fell asleep wondering why it seemed to have chosen her.

In the morning, it was no longer glowing, so the young woman carefully tried touching it again. It had cooled, so she picked it up and tucked it into her orange and tan striped coat.

Whenever she had the opportunity, Serin would examine the unusual rock. The more she handled it, the more perplexed she became. It was clearly inanimate—just a rock—but it felt like it was pulsing in her hands.

Upon concluding that it was something special, she sought an audience with her master. The servant wanted to add this extraordinary mineral to the treasure that was being brought to the Christ child. The wise man saw only a common rock and laughed the young woman out of her presence.

When she returned to her part of the camp, the servant fell on her face and prayed to God that this special stone would find a great purpose. Then she fashioned a sack for it and tied it to her belt.

The pulsing rock will make future appearances as the gemstones in Clare’s ring and necklace begin pulsing the same way and much later, when (spoiler alert) it is revealed that the initial purpose of the super-secret agency was to guard the smaller stones that were made from the that rock to keep them from getting into the wrong hands and to recover the ones that have.

The rest of the pilot will focus on laying out the premise of the story—Clare’s determination to solve Sara’s murder, Jack’s murder, and Clare’s charge to find out what really happened. All of this will be dressed in humor, including memories of Jack and Sara belting out misheard song lyrics, a romcom-type vibe as Jack and Clare flirt with each other, Jack’s biggest concern being whether he wet himself in during the crash when he t-boned off the highway, Clare trying to console herself by compulsively trying to bake everything she can think of but not actually making anything but a mess (ala I Love Lucy), and banter between Katie and another friend, Henry.

Author’s Note: Stones of Remembrance is based on my in-progress suspense novel, The Stones of Serin. You can find the chapters that have been completed to-date on my Vocal profile.