Human's Day
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Feb 7, 2022
- 2 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. BEDROOM - 08:00
Peter wakes up.
PETER (V.O.): Today is the 7th day of the Chinese New Year, or Human's Day.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In Chinese mythology, human beings were created on the 7th day after the creation of the world.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I feel like buying a bunch of flowers for my wife.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For the past two evenings, our evening delights were to have FaceTime with our children overseas.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To sustain the life force, we discharged our due roles 20 years ago.
Act 2
INT. STUDY - 10:30
On his smartphone screen, Peter sees in Quora an answer request: Would you have a baby in 2022, or is the world too unstable?
PETER (V.O.): My wife wouldn't allow that!
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When our children were conceived, we didn't care if the world would be stable or not.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What is constant is change.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Giving our children life opportunities, they might be able to play a role to help.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When our elder daughter was at kindergarten, she was the only pupil who opted not to join any graduation performance.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Now, she's working in Japan and is learning her third foreign language.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The younger son was excellent in Arts, but he chose to study Science.
Smiling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yesterday night, I sought his views on an acute medical condition.
Having typed his reply, Peter notices many Human's Day e-greetings.
'PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I recall I wrote a song on Human's Day years ago.
Surfing YouTube, Peter finds his music-video and watches it.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Done in Feb 2017, it still sounds and looks good to me.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I put in a lot of labour, skill and judgment into it.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It captured the mood when I didn't know if I'd work in retirement or not.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I shouldn't waste it. Let me leverage it as the featured music-video in my screenplay today.
INT. DINING ROOM - 15:30
Peter's eating, as his WIFE watches with cut flowers in a vase near her.
WIFE: You've been working till now?
PETER: Some pandemic issues impact on my court case tomorrow. I've just helped resolve them.
INT. STUDY - 15:45
Working on files, Peter takes a phone call and then engages in a couple of others.
PETER (V.O.): A friend has asked me, via my connections, to find a post-natal care centre vacancy.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I can understand how important it is.
Peter checks his smartphone screen from time to time.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My contact who is always prompt hasn't reply yet.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Vacancies in any unique post-natal care center are scarce in 2022.
Act 3
INT. BEDROOM - 22:30
Peter is about to go to bed.
PETER (V.O.): I've done quite a lot today, including preparing for my court appearances.
Pausing.
.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Humans are capable of doing extraordinary things.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): No masterpiece can be created without the sweat of the brow.
Peter sleeps.
FADE OUT
THE END
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