Invisible Problems
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- 22 hours ago
- 3 min read
FADE IN
Act 1
INT. CAR PARK - 11:00
PETER, in a T-shirt and shorts, opens the hood of his MB. He removes the cap of the coolant tank.
PETER (V.O.): The tank is quite empty.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The car repair shop just did the whole system. Two weeks ago.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That's what concerns me. They fixed the visible leak. But there's an invisible leak. A ghost leak.
Peter fills the coolant with two bottles of distilled water.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): This is a stop-gap measure to prevent overheating and engine seizure.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I don't want me to be stranded while on my way to the car repair shop.
Act 2
EXT. SILVERSTRAND BEACH - 13:00
Peter cuts through the water, with determined breaststroke and freestyle..
He reaches a buoy, touches, turns back. He swims backstroke and butterflystroke.
On shore, he towels off, breathing hard but satisfied.
PETER (V.O.): Through my daily swim, I hope I can be reasonably healthy.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My wife doesn't swim. She goes to the gym once a week.
INT. LIVING ROOM 14:30.
Peter opens Duolingo. He completes one quick lesson in Korean. Then another.
PETER (V.O.): Two lessons. Not my best. But alive.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Two years ago, my wife and I were classmates in Korean at SPACE...but I failed in my exam and couldn't proceed further.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I can't complete all my seven streaks now as I've to join my wife in Admiralty.
INT. CHA CHAAN TENG, ADMIRALTY - 16:00.
A classic and modern one. They do their orders.
WIFE: I'm very hungry.
PETER (V.O.): You've had hours of Korean lessons...
PETER: Me too, I haven't had anything after my swim.
Pausing.
PETER (Cont'd): I've already driven the MB to the car repair shop.
WIFE: The invisible problem.
PETER: The invisible problem. Just like the baby. We can't see her today.
WIFE: Yes, the baby is under observation...
PETER: Which means we can't help anyway.
WIFE: But our counterparts can, they're experts in O & G.
PETER: Yes, trust is what we use when the problem is invisible and the experts are extended family.
WIFE: But we'd still go to the hospital to support our elder son and our daughter-in-law.
EXT. RIVERSIDE PARK - 20:15
Peter and his wife are walking KAJI, the family pet.
PETER: About our trip to Japan next week...are we visiting our younger daughter?
WIFE: I've already booked a hotel not far away from her new home...but...
PETER: But what?
WIFE: She's not sure if her work schedule would allow her to see us.
PETER: Oh dear....
PETER (V.O.): I spend 90% of my energy fixing what I can see. The other 10% - the invisible - causes 90% of the worry.
Act 3
INT. LIVING ROOM - 22:45
Peter uploads an image to a draft on his laptop. It shows an opened coolant tank with a gauge visible inside.
PETER (V.O.): Invisible problems don't announce themselves. They just empty my coolant tank while I'm looking at the gauge.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Not every problem that hides is a crisis. Some are just babies behind glass, waiting for the right eyes to say: they're fine.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The car leaks. The baby is under observation. I still swim. I still keep my streaks. My wife and I are moving forward. That's not denial. That's living with the invisible.
The END
FADE OUT
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