Abandoning a Cat
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Mar 3, 2021
- 3 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. SLEEPING ROOM - DAY
Sleeping with the family pet, KAJI, PETER acts as the big "spoon", cocooning it.
EXT. ROADS - LATER
Driving, Peter listens to the radio. We hear:... the recommended fiction to read is Abandoning a Cat...What I Talk About When I Talk About My Father...by Haruki Murakami (村上春樹).
PETER (V.O.): Days ago, I heard in another program the recital of "Retreating Figure" (背影) by Zhu Ziqing (朱自清). I studied the literary work when I was young.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Although my Dad has passed away for a decade. he lives in my inner world.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As a father of two sons, our relationships are developing. We care about each other.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'm interested in stories about father-and-son relationship.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What did Haruki Murakami talk about his father?
Act 2
INT. STUDY - LATER
Peter researches.
PETER (V.O.): About Abandoning a Cat. Riding at the back of his father's bicycle and holding a box with a cat in it, Haruki Murakami went with his father to abandon a cat.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When they're home, they're surprised to find the "abandoned" cat welcoming them home. Haruki Murakami remembered well his father's response to the incident.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Thus, they kept the cat.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):I had also sit at the back of a bicycle being ridden by my Dad. We loved dogs and cats. We never thought of abandoning any of them.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Another matter Haruki Murakami talked about his father was his dedication to his morning prayers.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):As a Japaneses conscript in WWII, his father survived the War. But his father never talked about his combat experience.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): He speculated that his father had killed many people directly or indirectly, and had witnessed others got killed. And so, he prayed for them.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In those war years, young conscripts were encouraged to kill prisoners of war and civilians in public.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In a Quora World History Space, I saw a photo of a young Japanese WWII soldier with a Japanese sword, posting proudly before 4 dozen decapitated human heads on the ground.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): How cruel and inhuman it was? How worthless humans could be in war time!
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I was a kid, I heard about many war-time stories. I wondered why peoples and nations couldn't be peace-loving.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Whenever I prayed then, I prayed for world peace.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For decades in Hong Kong, there was relative peace.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But in the latter part of 2019, Hong Kong was hell. And only days ago, I saw people gathering at West Kowloon Magistrates' Court...
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I believe they have got spoiled with peace and order.
Act 3
INT. STUDY - LATER
Listening to TV, Peter researches.
PETER (V.O.): Let me find and study Zhu Ziqing's biography to understand more about his loving relationship with his father.
Peter discovers something.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, here's a backstory to Zhu Ziqing's "Retreating Figure". Zhu Ziqing and his father weren't on good terms?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): His father was very parental and they had different value and lifestyles.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It was only when Zhu Ziqing got a short note from his ailing father that Zhu recalled the scene of "Retreating Figure" that happened eight years ago and wrote about it.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): People forget and forgive, not to mention father and son.
INT. SLEEPING ROOM - NIGHT
Peter goes to bed. Kaji isn't shy to lick his nose and lips.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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