FADE IN.
Act 1
EXT. RESIDENTIAL ESTATE - DAY
Seeing a bunch of magenta flowers scrambling over the roof boundary of a Clubhouse and their shadows under the sun, PETER takes out his phone.
PETER (V.O.): The sight is beautiful and sentimental.
Having found his angle, Peter aborts taking a photo.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, the sunlight and shadows have just gone. But I'll wait.
When they reappear, Peter takes a few photos and looks contented.
Then a woman CARETAKER (30s) behind his back speaks to Peter.
CARETAKER: The cherry blossoms here look good. There's no need to go to Korea to see them...
PETER (V.O.): They aren't cherry blossoms. Decades ago, I tried to grow cherry trees in my NT home, but without success. Anyway.
Peter forces a smile.
Act 2
FLASHBACK
INT. SITTING ROOM - NIGHT
Peter's WIFE shows Peter a phone image.
WIFE: Our elder daughter is in Kagoshima and sends us an image. She believes they're cherry blossoms as they're everywhere.
PETER (Delighted and surprised): Beautiful! But doesn't she know what are cherry blossoms? She's so fond of Japan and is living there learning the language!
WIFE: Never mind! She knows now! She has also seen the volcanic smoke from Sakurajima.
PETER: Is that right? When I was touring there in 2016, I waited for three days and the volcano had gone fast asleep.
WIFE: But she thought what she saw was nothing extraordinary!
Peter looks very envious.
INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY
Peter chats with his wife.
PETER: If my flights weren't cancelled and Japan didn't impose any quarantine, I should be in Kumamoto today, exploring where to see cherry blossoms and meeting our elder daughter there.
WIFE: She has just sent us another message and image...Where's she now?
PETER: Is she visiting Kumamoto now?
His wife reads something on her phone screen.
WIFE: Yes, it's raining though.
As his wife shows him an image, Peter sees an image of cherry blossoms under the rain.
PETER (V.O.): Is that a consolation that I didn't miss much? I had wanted to meet up with her there....
END FLASHBACK
PETER (V.O.): Although cherry blossoms appeal to me aesthetically, the backstories were merely my many cherry blossom chases. But seeing the magenta flowers always reminds me of my dearest late Grandma.
FLASHBACK
EXT. GARDEN - DAY (1962)
Peter (8) is watching his GRANDMA (61) carefully transplanting some vines on a chain link fence.
PETER: Grandma, the vine is thorny.
GRANDMA: So you and others shouldn't touch them.
PETER (V.O.): Would such installation deter naughty boys and even burglars?
END FLASHBACK
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And months later, I began to see some magenta flowers and years later, I saw something similar to what I've just seen.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When my Grandpa was alive, he only cared about his concubine. But I could feel that my Grandma cared about my Grandpa a lot. They had one daughter and three sons.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): From her, she gave my Dad life, and therefore my life.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): She dedicated her whole life to the family. Her only leisure was to see the magenta flowers.
Remembering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Inscribed on her tombstone was: The Greatest & Kindest ...None of us would dispute that.
END FLASHBACK
Peter sighs.
Act 3
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Whether the magenta flowers are cherry blossoms are neither here nor there. It's the interpretation of the concerned person that matters.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I think my Grandma taught me intuitively that beauty is all around us.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Apart from the flowers' Chinese name known in Hong Kong, I don't even know its non-scientific or scientific name in English.
INT. STUDY - DAY
Peter surfs the web on his phone.
PETER (V.O.): Its scientific name is Bougainvillea Spectabilis, or great Bougainvillea, or simply Bougainvillea.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I don't even know how to pronounce it properly,
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The species is native to Latin America. I don't know about that too.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We simply don't know what we don't know.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But we will know when we come to know. We might then regret what we have missed or lost.
FADE OUT.
THE END
Comentários