Castle Peak
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
FADE IN
Act 1
INT. BEDROOM - 01:O0
Sitting up in bed with a laptop on his lap, PETER hits the "publish" button with a decisive click. He leans back, rubbing his eyes.
PETER (V.O.): Okay, my daily screenplay is done.
He turns off the light and sleeps.
INT. BEDROOM - 05:30
Peter's eyes snap open. He stares at the ceiling, his heart beating a little too fast. The silence is thick. He tries to close his eyes.
PETER (V.O.): See if I can will myself back to sleep.
Soon, he opens his eyes.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What happened to my ex-girlfriend after 52 years?
He throws off the covers, looking frustrated,
Act 2
FLASHBACK
INT. STUDY - DAY (2010)
Peter (55), sits on a sofa watching a Korean drama on TV. We hear dialogues in Cantonese.
PETER (V.O.): It's melodramatic. The Korean dialogues have been translated into Cantonese.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Let me explore how the mainland Chinsese dramas are doing. I can improve my Mandarin too.
He clicks a mainland Chinese channel. A beautiful young actress appears on screen. She has intense eyes and a smile that vanishes as quickly as it appears. Peter leans forward.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): She reminds me of my ex-girlfriend, but with a more striking look.
MONTAGE OF WHAT HAPPENED FOR THE THE NEXT FEW WEEKS
A. Peter obsessively clicks that actress's filmography.
B. He absorbs her entire body of audio-visual works.
C. He reads her interviews and news, and becomes an expert of her life and career.
RETURN TO PRESENT
INT. DINING ROOM/BEDROOM - 08:00
Peter is sharing slices of bread with Kaji, a Shiba Inu and family pet. He scrolls his phone.
PETER (V.O.): I haven't followed the actress' stories for many years.
He surfs the web and sees video clips: a serene looking actress surrounded by nature.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):Oh, she has retreated to a mountain home. Unmarried. With a Shiba Inu.
Peter glances at Kaji.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Does quality work...No, it wasn't just her acting. I saw her not as an actress, but as my ex-girlfriend 2.0.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I made her an ideal. Romanticized. Unreal. A perfect, pointless fantasy.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It leads nowhere. She's a stranger I projected my past onto.
Peter returns to the bedroom and gets back to bed.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But my mind is a tornado.
He types his ex-girlfriend's name into the search bar of his phone and checks the results.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Nothing.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We also had a common workmate and friend...I lent her my new typwriter for months so that she could learn typing. She's a very nice girl.
He types her name on the search bar.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Nothing.
Peter takes a deep breath and types his name into the search bar. A flood of his images appear. Headshots. Articles about his career.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There I'm. A monument to myself...They can find me...The asymmetry.
His face stares back at him.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Let go. Peter. You've to let go.
Peter stares at the phone screen with quiet acceptance.
Act 3
INT. BEDROOM - 21:45
Peter uploads an image to a draft on his laptop. It shows Castle Peak rising in a dark silhouette beneath a hazy, golden sunset, while the warm light reflecting over the bay water.
PETER (V.O.): I've mistaken nostalgia for a desire to reconnect with others, when it's really a desire to reconnect with myself at a particular moment in time.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Castle Peak was a place I carried. Every road I took afterward just circled back to its shadow. I can't rewrite what happened there. But I can write how I carry it.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I don't climb Castle Peak. I climb its memories. And the view is always the same: a younger self waving goodbye.
The END
FADE OUT
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