A Bowl of Stay
FADE IN
Act 1
INT. DINING ROOM - 21:00
The MAID puts a bowl of sweet potato sugar water on the table. PETER takes his seat.
PETER: Thank you.
MAID: Welcome, Sir.
Peter takes a slow, deliberate spoonful.
PETER (V.O.): This is my standard dessert.
Silence.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The maid must be wondering why I always have it.
The only sounds are the soft clink of the spoon against the bowl.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's not a choice. It's a memory.
Act 2
FLASHBACK
INT. HOME, TIN SUM - 11:00 pm (1974)
Small but warm. Peter (20) greets his DAD (43), in a KMB route captain uniform, coming home.
DAD: Let me prepare sweet potato sugar water for us. It shouldn't take long.
PETER: I've to work tomorrow morning...okay.
Soon, two bowls of sweet potato sugar water steam on the table.
PETER (V.O.): Every night, around 11pm , he'd come home. He always works the pm shift.
Peter and his Dad sit.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My Dad rides his bicycle to take to Mum to a tea house every morning.
PETER: Why do you always make this?
DAD: It's easy. It's sweet.
PETER (V.O.): It reminds us that even if the day was bitter, there's still something sweet waiting for us.
END FLASHBACK
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The sweet potato sugar water years ended in 1983 when Sharon and I moved out to our own new home.
He sets the spoon down.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My Dad wasn't happy.
FLASHBACK
INT. RESTAURANT, HUNG SHUI KIU - SATURDAY NIGHT (1992)
A large round table. Peter's MUM (61) and Dad (60) sit with their BOYS' FAMILIES.
PETER (V.O.): I host Saturday dinners. Dad has retired and can join.
INT. RESTAURANT, YUEN LONG - SATURDAY NIGHT (2011)
Peter drives. Later, he and family MEMBERS assist his weak Dad to enter it.
PETER (V.O.) : My Dad doesn't want to miss the Saturday night ritual.
END FLASHBACK
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Months later, he passed away.
Peter eats in silence.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I also remember my childhood days with my Dad.
MONTAGE OF PETER'S CHILDHOOD DAYS WITH HIS DAD
A. Home in Central, 1958. Peter's Dad (27) prepares a comfortable spot for Peter (4) to sleep and buys him a big toy gun.
B. Home in Central, 1959. Peter (5) watches his Dad (28) processing negatives and enlarging images on prints in a dark room.
C. Streets and roads, 1960. Peter's Dad (29) takes Peter (6) to school and to their new home in Tin Sum.
D. Home in Tin Sum, 1961. Peter (7) assists his Dad (30) to move materials, build the fence of a garden and mix chicken feed.
E. Home in Tin Sum, 1962. Peter (8) watches his Dad (31) building the drainage system of their premises.
END MONTAGE
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My Dad built the family from nothing, with his own hands and clever mind. He taught me that a man doesn't need a blueprint if he has vision.
RETURN TO PRESENT
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It was never about the sweet potato. It was a bowl full of "stay". A bowl full of "I'm here."
Act 3
INT. BEDROOM - 21:45
Peter uploads an image to a draft on his laptop. It shows a bowl of sweet potato sugar water.
PETER (V.O.): A bowl of stay. That's what my Dad gave me. Not a bowl of dessert-a bowl of belonging.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's a promise that no matter how far I go, there's always a warm bowl waiting for me at home. And that's the architecture of love.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My Dad was teaching me that the point to build a life is to have people to share it with. My only regret is that I learned his lesson so late.
The END
FADE OUT
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