Part of the Cosmos
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Sep 14, 2020
- 3 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY
Phone in hand, PETER is reading something, curiously.
PETER (V.O.): Here's a quote and an answer request.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): "Woody Allen said: Today I saw a red-and-yellow sunset and thought: How insignificant I'm!" Do you get lost in the wonder of nature and your own existence?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It sounds as if the Quoran posing the question is a disinterested third party.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Any intelligent beings should have wondered about their nature and their own existence.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It doesn't have to be a celebrity/icon who was humbled by his observation of a sunset.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Interpreting Woody Allen's remark, the question poser seems to be unsure and lost, and doesn't know where he is heading.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): He's asking my view. Great minds think alike, or fools are all the same?
Recalling.
Act 2
INT. SITTING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
FLASHBACK
INT. CLASSROOM - DAY (1972)
Peter (18) is reading a marked assignment with the caption: Part of the Cosmos.
PETER (V.O.): It's just a story about human relationships in the classroom. Some students are favoured by the teachers, and some aren't.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My message - the truism - I want to communicate is that people have never been treated equally since time immemorial.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But I expand the classroom trifles into a much wider context, not just the earth or the universe, but the cosmos.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The teacher doesn't comment on my essay title at all. Anyway.
EXT. PARK - NIGHT (1992)
Walking past it, a tired Peter (38) looks up at the starry sky.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Earthly challenges are already overwhelming. Do I have to bother myself with nature, the earth, the universe or the cosmos?
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But does my coping with earthly matters is what I live for?
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Many have passed their lives just like that, whether they're significant or insignificant.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But every being has just one life and one unique identity. Shouldn't one make the most of it?
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To become rich and famous? To have more power and glory?
Peter looks lost.
END FLASHBACK
Act 3
INT. SITTING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Since my ceasing active service in 2014, I've time to satisfy my curiosity.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I watched the science TV channel a lot and have earned about the origins of not just life, earth, universe but the theories of parallel universes and of the cosmos.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For issues that haven't got any scientific inferences, I ponder them from the philosophical perspective.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There's scientific evidence that my origin began with the Big Bang stardust; and I believe that my present existence in a space-time is linked up with the past and the future.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As part of the cosmos, my living mission is to procreate to sustain the life force, and to make me the creative force, impacting on myself and other beings.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Getting loss of oneself and with no sense of direction wastes one's existence as part of the cosmos.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Since I turned 60, I've found myself and returned to the right track. I believe an insignificant me can still make significant contribution by choosing to connect with nature, the earth, the universes and the cosmos.
Smiling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'm Peter Cheung.
Inserting a sunset photo, Peter types his answer on the phone.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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