Always Something There To Remind Me
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
FADE IN
Act 1
INT. LIVING ROOM - 10:15
PETER sits at an upright piano. Sheet music is propped up: Always Something There To Remind Me.
PETER (V.O.): July 20th. The day I was supposed to visit the Red Leaf World.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But I was impatient. I went in early July. I wanted to seize the moment.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What did the present give me? A bouncing no-rail staircase going nowhere and a woman who knew better.
He plays the song, rewinding an online tutorial on his phone at times.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Today, I'll make sure I can memorize how to play the song.
He keeps playing without looking at the sheet music.
Act 2
INT. LIVING ROOM - 15:45
Sitting on a sofa, Peter scrolls FB on his phone. A post catches his eyes: Rene Magritte - The Architecture Under Moonlight (1956)
PETER (V.O.): The painting shows a skeletal, surreal staircase, ascending into a pale night sky. No destination.
Peter zooms in. His breathe catches.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That's it. That's the staircase.
He leans back.
FLASHBACK
EXT. RED LEAF WORLD, GUANGDONG - 16:48 (July 7th, 2026)
Cloudy. Mountain top. Peter stands at the base of a white, elegant staircase-like structure.
PETER (V.O.): It has no rails. It's a large photo prop.
A tourist GUIDE holds Peter's phone.
GUIDE: Uncle, stand at the top! The view is better!
Peter looks up.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Can only hold one person at a time.
He then looks down.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There's a safety net underneath.
He begins to climb.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'm 72. But I want a been-there-done-that photo.
When he reaches at the upper steps, he hesitates.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I can see the bounce happening and I can feel it in my body.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If I stood and fell, I woudn't die. But I could sustain injury. I broke my ankle before.
He sits at the top of the staircase.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I sit because I'm lucky to feel the bounce before the fall.
The guide shoots photos for him. Later, the guide walks up the staircase. He doesn't stand at the top of it either.
Restaurant. Tour group dinner. Round table. A WOMAN (80s) with sharp eyes sits opposite to Peter.
WOMAN: Everybody went up the staircase for the photos.
She looks at Peter.
WOMAN (Cont'd): For the elderly, standing up there - the body doesn't adjust to the bounce so quickly. You don't fall because you're weak. You fall because your brain is still on the ground.
Peter nods.
PETER (V.O.): I didn't think of that.
Peter opens his mouth. Closes it.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The older woman didn't climb the staircase. She didn't need to. She had already climbed it in her mind a long time ago.
RETURN TO PRESENT
Peter stares at the Magritte painting on his screen and checks the photos he got at Red Leaf World.
PETER (V.O.): The designer might have seen the painting before and built the tangible representation in steel.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Courage is not standing on a shaky platform. Courage is admitting I'm 72 and not young anymore.
Act 3
INT. BEDROOM - 21:45
Peter uploads an image to a draft on his laptop. It shows Peter sitting on top of a no-rail symbolic staircase to the sky.
PETER (V.O.): I remember the objects that held moments - a song, a staircase, a woman's voice at dinner.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We live forward, We understand backward. Always something there to remind me - eventually.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I play the song because it carries my loved one in it, and because it brings me back to myself, too.
The END
FADE OUT
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