My Little Girl
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Oct 31, 2020
- 2 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT
PETER and his WIFE have finished their dinner.
PETER: Is our maid on leave tomorrow?
WIFE: Yes. Anything?
PETER: I'll have to prepare breakfast for myself and Kaji.
INT. SITTING ROOM - MORNING
Standing near the door, KAJI, the family pet, sees Peter leaving home.
PETER: (V.O.): I'll go to the cake shop to buy one tuna bread and one chicken pie.
Pausing.
PETER: (V.O.) (Cont'd): A while ago, a cake shop staff gave me a loyalty card. I get a stamp on it with every purchase.
Exits Peter.
Act 2
INT. CAKE SHOP - LATER
Breads and cakes in shelves. Peter sees only one female STAFF(20's) working before a register in a corner.
PETER (V.O.): Oh, just one staff.
FLASHBACK
INT. CAKE SHOP - DAY (Summer, 2017)
The same cake shop. Peter (63) watches the cake-shop activities from a distance.
PETER (V.O.): My elder daughter is working diligently.
Observing.
PETER: (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's good for my little girl to have some working experience, particularly in the service sector.
Pausing.
PETER: (V.O.) (Cont'd): Knowing how to serve people helps us understand humanity.
Observing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My little girl seems to have lost herself in the service of others. That's great.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I won't interrupt.
Peter leaves.
INT. HOME - NIGHT
Peter's elder daughter is home, looking tired. She passes Peter a tuna bread.
DAUGHTER: For you Dad. It's a complementary bread for staff.
PETER: Oh, thank you very much!
Peter takes a photo of the bread.
PETER (V.O.): She has earned it. And it's for me!
END FLASHBACK
Picking one tuna bread from a shelf, Peter waits at the chicken pie section.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Chicken pie is my favourite cake.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When my brother-in-law-to-be was dating my sister in the late 1960s, they would bring home some food, from chicken pies to wonton noodles.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My brothers and I ate anything, not to mention delicacies.
Counting fingers.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That's over 50 years ago...
Peter takes out a Senior Citizen card.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): With that, I even get a discount in buying breads and cakes here.
Act 3
INT. CAKE SHOP - CONTINUOUS
Seeing Peter waiting, the staff comes over to serve him.
PETER (V.O.): In addition to the tuna bread, one chicken pie please.
Showing his Senior Citizen card and the loyal customer card, Peter pays. The staff then passes Peter the chicken pie and stamps on the card.
STAFF: Oh, the last stamping day is today...
Peter sees two unstamped slots on the card.
PETER: I see. Let me buy more chicken pies now, so that my card would be fully stamped. 3 or 4 more?
STAFF: 3 would suffice.
PETER: Okay.
Peter watches the staff clamping the chicken pies into a paper box.
STAFF: The crust of one has cracked...
PETER: No problem, just give it to me. Your service is so good.
PETER (V.O.): I feel I treat her as if she's my daughter.
INT. DINING ROOM - DAY
Seeing the cake box, tuna bread and a fully stamped loyalty card on the table, Kaji looks confused.
PETER (V.O.): Don't worry, I treat you like my little girl too.
They begin to have breakfast.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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