Forever Young
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Dec 22, 2021
- 3 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
EXT. STUDY - DAY
Putting aside files, PETER is pondering.
PETER (V.O.): Should I go back to my NT home today?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But I've to appear in court tomorrow. I may lose my focus.
Peter turns on an internet radio Apple-Fm and then the bluetooth speakers.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What I shall be dealing is quite new. I should prepare better.
We hear oldies.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'll go back day after tomorrow then.
Act 2
FLASHBACK
EXT. ESTATE STREETS - AFTERNOON (DAYS AGO)
Seeing a WOMAN (mid-30s) sitting on a bench waiting, Peter is stunned.
PETER (V.O.): Oh, she looks like Sharon...
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Sharon was born on Dec 22, 1955. She thought Winter Solstices dwarfed her birthdays.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When we married in 1979, we just held a barbecue party at my parents' home.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There, we lived in a small structure built by my younger brother and me.
Cars drive by.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I spent all my salaries on cars. Sharon graduated from CUHK just a year earlier.
Couples walk by.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As husband and wife, we're very happy together.
Nice cars drive by.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In 1980, I bought my white 5-Speed Corolla 1.6 GT. Sharon bought her red Honda Prelude with an electric sun-roof.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): After settling our hire-purchase instalments in 1982, we began to save.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In 1983, when home prices were rock bottom, we settled the down payment of our NT home.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As home prices didn't pick up that fast, we bought our Hong Kong home in 1985.
Arriving at a block entrance.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We bought our Kowloon home here in Summer 1991.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Sharon was then working in the Music Office in Mongkok, and I was in Admiralty. Living in Kowloon was convenient to us.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We also liked to swim in the large estate swimming pool here. It's still looking good after 30 years.
Recalling
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But after Sharon's surgery in late May 1992, we wanted to be close to our 2-year old son. He was being taken good care by my parents.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): So, we moved back to live with them in Tin Sum San Tsuen. The address there had just a name but no number, it was difficult to find.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): As Sharon's friends would like to visit her on Sundays, we make our NT home the meeting place, bringing our kid along.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): And it was nice to walk around the artificial lake there. It's still looking good after so many years.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): In mid-August 1992, just upon the arrival of visiting relatives from LA, I got a call that Sharon should return to the hospital as soon as possible.
Sighing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): That was the last time she was home.
RETURN TO PRESENT
Act 3
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
We hear instrumental music: Love is Blue. Looking at the stuff before him, Peter captures an image.
PETER (V.O.): In Winter, 1987, I felt down, as I couldn't apply what I had learned to good use.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Sharon gave me a cheque, asking me to buy the guitar gears that I liked.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Among others, I bought a white electric bass. I'd play it and she'd play the electric piano to accompany me, in our cosy Hong Kong home.
Pondering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Today, Sharon is still 36, staying forever young.
FADE OUT
THE END
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