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Help a Little

Writer's picture: Peter K F Cheung SBSPeter K F Cheung SBS
  1. FADE IN.


  2. Act 1


  3. INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY


  4. Phone in hand, PETER is pondering.


  5. PETER (V.O.): Quorans ask me all sorts of questions these days. Here's one: My agoraphobia has gotten way worse during the pandemic. What can I do to help this?


  6. Pausing.


  7. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What's agoraphobia?


  8. Peter surfs the web.


  9. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's an extreme or irrational fear of entering open or crowded places, of leaving one's own home, or of being in places from which escape is difficult.


  10. Reading.


  11. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Psychotherapy and medications are the treatments. And they take time.


  12. Pausing.


  13. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I am no doctor. Medications are out of the question. I'm no psychotherapist either.


  14. Pausing.


  15. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But those suffering from agoraphobia might have become home-bound.


  16. Pausing.


  17. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That may well be the very reason the Quoran has posed the question to me.


  18. Pausing.


  19. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Can I help a little?


  20. Peter looks loss.


  21. Act 2


  22. FLASHBACK


  23. INT. CRUISE SHIP - DAY (1993)


  24. A cabin room without any porthole. Peter (39), his WIFE and his SON are checking in.


  25. PETER: We just stay here for one night. And there're so many facilities we can enjoy on board.


  26. Having placed their few baggage, they leave the room and go up to the port side of the ship, which is leaving port.


  27. INT. CINEMA - NIGHT (1997)


  28. Watching the movie Titanic, Peter (43) and his wife look immersed in it.


  29. PETER (V.O.): Getting up from a lower-deck cabin to the upper deck can be very difficult. This is especially so when the ship is sinking.


  30. Pausing.


  31. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We must book a balcony room the next time we take a cruise.


  32. INT CRUISE SHIP - DAY (2000)


  33. A cabin room with a balcony. Peter (46) opens the curtains as the ship leaves port. His wife is taking care of their younger SON (2) who is watching the scene.


  34. WIFE: Our son looks very pale. What's has happened?


  35. PETER: He sees the landscape outside moving. The landscape doesn't move at home.


  36. Peter closes the balcony curtains right away.


  37. RETURN TO PRESENT


  38. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It was an ordeal for our son inside the floating hotel. He just wanted be with us inside the room. He doesn't want to go anywhere.


  39. Pausing.


  40. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Since then, we haven't taken any cruise.


  41. Pausing.


  42. PETER (V.O.): And I've no inclination to join a cruise myself, despite that I've taken over 70 trips before the pandemic.


  43. Pausing.


  44. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As a passenger in a cruise ship, many things are beyond my control. Fearing a cruise ship might capsize like the Titanic, I believe I can't sleep well on board.


  45. Pausing.


  46. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As I can swim, the thought of being trapped inside a cabin waiting to die can be particularly torturous.


  47. Reflecting.


  48. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Am I suffering from agoraphobia too?


  49. Having felt his heart rate with his hand, Peter surfs the web.


  50. Act 3


  51. INT. SITTING ROOM - CONTINUOUS


  52. PETER (V.O.): For people suffering from agoraphobia, the first thing they need to do is to take care of themselves. Eat healthy and do exercises.

  53. Nodding.


  54. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Then, they've to learn to keep calm when they feel symptoms of panic attack eg rapid heart rate and choking feeling. They can try to breathe deeply or listen to music to divert their attention.


  55. Nodding.


  56. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A practical way to train themselves is to go to safe places where they might feel unsafe, again and again, to reassure themselves.


  57. Nodding.


  58. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): These are the common-sense stuff that I can help the Quoran from afar.


  59. Having typed his answer on phone and submit it, Peter soon gets upvotes.


  60. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Who have upvoted my answer so quickly?


  61. Peter taps the upvoters icon.


  62. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Ah, the very Quoran who posed the question to me and another person.


  63. Smiling.


  64. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): During the pandemic, the world can become more difficult. I hope my little help can help some get by.


  65. Pausing.


  66. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A little help right away might help a lot.


  67. Peter looks happy.


  68. FADE OUT.


  69. THE END


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