December 22

1. FADE IN

2. 
   

3. Act 1

4. 
   

5. INT. LIVING ROOM - 08:30

6. 
   

7. Soft grey light filters through the windows. PETER strolls through a Facebook.

8. 
   

9. PETER (V.O.): Today is December 22.

10. 
    

11. Pausing.

12. 
    

13. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It was Sharon's birthday 70 years ago. She complained to me that Dec 22 often concides with the winter solstice.

14. 
    

15. Pausing.

16. 
    

17. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The calendar worked out this year.

18. 
    

19. Pausing.

20. 
    

21. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Solstice yesterday. Family done. Today is clear.

22. 
    

23. Peter closes his eyes, centering himself.

24. 
    

25. Act 2

26. 
    

27. INT. PETER'S NT HOME - 16:30

28. 
    

29. Cluttered studio, 1/F. Against the wall is a 1976 Yamaha upright piano. Peter plays a few bars of a tune and then stops.

30. 
    

31. PETER (V.O.): I should play in the living room so that Sharon can see me play.

32. 
    

33. Living room, G/F. In the shelf is an enlarged photo of Sharon, in her 30s. The focus is soft on her face.

34. 
    

35. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I took the photo while we were touring Bejing during the X'mas holidays in December 1987.

36. 
    

37. A sunburst Fender accoustic guitar is on the sofa. Peter uses an app to tune it.

38. 
    

39. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I love the design of the Fender headstock. One day in 1986, I stumbled on an affordable Fender acoustic wearing that. I bought it with Sharon's full support even though we had to pay the mortgages of this house and our HK apartment.

40. 
    

41. Peter then tunes a dark green Yamaha electric rhythm guitar and a milky-white Yamaha electric bass guitar on stands.

42. 
    

43. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the winter of 1987, I was deeply unhappy with my career path. Sharon, aware of my passion for electric guitars, responded by giving me a cheque to buy them.

44. 
    

45. Peter finishes the tuning.

46. 
    

47. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I tune the guitars so the past can speak in perfect pitch.

48. 
    

49. One by one, Peter brings them to life.

50. 
    

51. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I wrote the love song "Untold Story" for Sharon.

52. 
    

53. Playing medodies and basslines sequentially.

54. 
    

55. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I don't play to fill the silence. I play to prove the silence has a melody of its own.

56. 
    

57. Later, Peter turns to the Clavinova, positioned near the shelf.

58. 
    

59. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We bought it as soon as the digital model came out, just so Sharon could keep practising whenever we stayed at our HK apartment.

60. 
    

61. Pausing.

62. 
    

63. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The instruments are in good order, requiring only standard maintenance like new strings, except the electric bass pickup replacement years ago.

64. 
    

65. Peter stares at the photo of Sharon.

66. 
    

67. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Our son is really good. He's like these instruments. Well-made. Needs occasional adjustment, but the core tone is true.

68. 
    

69. Pausing.

70. 
    

71. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): You complained you were deprived. Of a proper birthday. Of time...of everything in the end.

72. 
    

73. Pausing.

74. 
    

75. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In 1992, I told you if I could take your pain, your suffering, and make it mine, I would do it. I meant it then. I mean it now.

76. 
    

77. Sighing.

78. 
    

79. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Love is the willingness to replace another's suffering with my own. And when I can't, love becomes the act of keeping our song from going flat.

80. 
    

81. Pausing.

82. 
    

83. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Today, December 22 is observed as its own event, distinct from the solstice.

84. 
    

85. Pausing.

86. 
    

87. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I can't give you the birthdays we missed. But I can report that the life we made...continues.

88. 
    

89. Sighing.

90. 
    

91. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): You'd be 70 today. Can you imagine?

92. 
    

93. Sighing.

94. 
    

95. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): December 22 isn't just a date. It's an address for a meeting place that exists only in the heart.

96. 
    

97. Peter unplugs the electric guitars and covers the Calvinova.

98. 
    

99. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): All I can do is to keep the music in tune.

100. 
     

101. Act 3

102. 
     

103. INT. LIVING ROOM - 21:30

104. 
     

105. Peter uploads a photo of guitar headstocks he bought, with the full support of Sharon, to a draft on his laptop.

106. 
     

107. PETER (V.O.): The musical instruments have been returned to a state of readiness. The memory...remains in tune.

108. 
     

109. Thinking.

110. 
     

111. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Sharon's birthday. The house. The tune. The report. The love, ongoing.

112. 
     

113. Reflecting.

114. 
     

115. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The longest night for the year is passing for the longest conversation.

116. 
     

117. END

118. 
     

119. FADE OUT