Ghosts
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Mar 22, 2021
- 3 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
EXT. ROAD - MORNING
Peter walks towards a court house.
PETER (V.O.): I'm early. On time is late for high achievers.
INT. COURT - DAY
PETER, in a black suit, is staring at a MAN (70) who has uttered something.
COURT: What did you say? Speak up.
PETER (V.O.): Despite concrete evidence, he has been denying his responsibility since 2018.
MAN: Guilty.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): At last for this trifle.
Having heard the main parts of the facts, the man utters again.
MAN: I don't agree with the extent of the victim's injury...
Act 2
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The dead idea in him...
COURT: Those're irrelevant...Do you agree with the facts?
MAN: Yes.
COURT: Convicted as charged.
Pausing.
COURT: (CONT'D): Fine: HK$3000, and complete a driving improvement course within 3 months.
PETER (V.O.): Fine aside, the man doesn't pay any attention to the Court's other order.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Well, he still has to learn to take the consequences of his own making.
INT. OFFICE - NOON
Peter is reading some papers.
PETER (V.O.): The defendant shoplifter has to appear in court in the afternoon. He jumped bails and the Police has executed the arrest warrants.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, he was only arrested during a Police's anti-crime patrol -away from the crime scene.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Is there a ghost living inside him?
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Wow, he has dozens of previous criminal convictions. The ghost has been winning.
INT. COURT - AFTERNOON
His NAMESAKE in the dock, Peter prosecutes.
NAMESAKE: Guilty.
After agreeing the facts of the case, the Court convicts him. Peter's namesake says something.
COURT: The only acceptable mitigating factor is your frank admission of guilt.
PETER (V.O.): Although one shouldn't judge a person by his looks, my namesake looks he has something to hide. I feel sorry for him.
COURT: I give you a 1/3 discount. Two months imprisonment.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): He has to steal to feed his stomach. Imprisonment is quite a stop-gap solution.
INT. OFFICE - LATER
PETER (V.O.): I got a case to mention in court day after tomorrow; but I still haven't got the file. Let me chase.
Having checked with STAFF#1, and STAFF#2, and waited for awhile, Peter gets a file.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I was an Assistant Crown Counsel in 1986, I conducted trials in Magistracies and District Courts. Those for-mention case were mysteries to me.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Now, I know very well that they're just procedural steps in the pre-trial process.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As the trial date has been fixed, there's nothing to mention on 24 March 2021.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Tracing the case's process, I can see something was meant to be done on 24 March 2020. Is past a determined ghost?
Holding the file, Peter checks with STAFF#2 and then STAFF#3.
STAFF#3: I'll come back to you.
Later, we hear a woman shouting at the reception.
WOMAN: Prosecute my daughter? She was scarcely 16 years old? You all are rascals!
As she repeats her accusations, Peter takes a look of the WOMAN.
PETER (V.O.): A mother's love for her children can be ghostly powerful.
Peter gossips with STAFF#4 and STAFF#5.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): She likes to come here to haunt the staff.
Act 3
INT. OFFICE - LATER
Staff#3 comes back to Peter.
STAFF#3: So sorry to have kept you waiting. Someone has overdone it. There's nothing to mention about this case.
PETER: That's fine.
PETER (V.O.): The woman has just left, ending our false imprisonment.
EXT. ROAD - LATE AFTERNOON
Peter leaves the court house.
PETER (V.O.): If I didn't deal with the ghost case early, all parties will look ghostly.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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