Smoke Over Tin Sum

1. FADE IN

2. 
   

3. Act 1

4. 
   

5. INT. BEDROOM - 10:30

6. 
   

7. Bright sunlight streams through the gap in the curtains. PETER lies on his back, eyes wide open. He glances at the bedside digital clock. He groans.

8. 
   

9. PETER (V.O.): I was too tired.

10. 
    

11. Recalling.

12. 
    

13. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I published my daily screenplay at 1am today.

14. 
    

15. Recalling.

16. 
    

17. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I only began to draft it after 10pm last night.

18. 
    

19. Recalling.

20. 
    

21. PETER (VF.O.) (Cont'd): Before that I kept staring at the photos of my family home in Tin Sum because I wasn't ready to let the moment go. I was still living in it. 

22. 
    

23. Peter pushes himself up, swings his legs out of bed and grabs his phone.

24. 
    

25. Act 2

26. 
    

27. MONTAGE OF WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY AFTERNOON

28. 
    

29. A. WhatsApp "Tin Sum" chatgroup, 12:30. Brother#1 advises he's returning to Tin Sum now. Brother#2 will be there by 2:30pm. Brother#3 by 3:30pm. Peter advises he has an engagement.

30. 
    

31. B. Restaurant, 2:00pm. Peter and his WIFE take turns to hold their GRANDCHILD, as his SON and DAUGHTER-IN-LAW do the orders.

32. 
    

33.  END MONTAGE

34. 
    

35. EXT/INT. FAMILY HOME , TIN SUM - 17:00 (Yesterday)

36. 
    

37. Arriving, Peter greets BROTHER#1 who wipes sweat from his forehead amidst the clutter, and BROTHER#2, who is sweating profusely as he sorts through the junk.

38. 
    

39. BROTHERS#1-2: Hi, big brother. Brother#3 has come and gone.

40. 
    

41. Nodding, he glances at the garden.

42. 
    

43. PETER: The stalks I cut a fortnight ago grew back...

44. 
    

45. He begins hacking at a vine near the fence. The blade is dull.

46. 
    

47. FLASHBACK UPON FLASHBACK

48. 
    

49. EXT - SAME PLACE - 1960

50. 
    

51. Peter (6) struggles to hold an iron fence post straight. His DAD (29) drives a sledgehammer, sinking it into the earth.

52. 
    

53. DAD: Straight, Fai. If it isn't straight, it isn't worth building.

54. 
    

55. Peter hosts the post, his small hands trembling with the effort.

56. 
    

57. PETER: Yes, Dad.

58. 
    

59. MONTAGE OF REBUILDING IN THE SAME PLACE IN THE MID-1970s

60. 
    

61. A. Peter (21) and Brother#1 demolish a pigsty and rebuild a two-room structure with brick and mortar. Upon completion, they move in.

62. 
    

63. B. Peter's Dad and MUM hire a CONTRACTOR to demolish a chicken shed and rebuild a two-room structure with brick and mortar for brothers#2-3.

64. 
    

65. END MONTAGE

66. 
    

67. Peter glances at the wild growth in the front garden.

68. 
    

69. PETER (V.O.): The Govt took that small portion for the Hung Shui Kiu rail station.

70. 
    

71. Peter stares at the remaining section.

72. 
    

73. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):This is what is left in the front garden. The original structure built in 1960 and the rebuilt ones will also stay.

74. 
    

75. Brother#1 pulls out some trash, ignites it and burns it, keeping buckets of water closeby.

76. 
    

77. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And we aren't abandoning our family home.

78. 
    

79. Brother#2 feeds the flames with a few other broken objects.

80. 
    

81. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): So do the memories and the need to return. It's a rhythm of a life well-lived.

82. 
    

83. The sun is lowering. Peter and brother#1 dump the buckets into the fireplace, and then blast it with a water hose. A cloud of steam erupts.

84. 
    

85. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To burn is to transform. Junk becomes ash. Ash become memory.  Memory becomes story. Story becomes smoke that someone else can see.

86. 
    

87. Pausing.

88. 
    

89. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Dad has been gone since 2011. But I still feel him in the garden and still see him in the smoke that rises from our Tin Sum home.

90. 
    

91. Pausing.

92. 
    

93. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The garden and houses at Tin Sum don't belong us. We belong to them. They're the anchors that keep our scattered lives from drifting far too apart.

94. 
    

95. Pausing.

96. 
    

97. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Home isn't where I sleep. Home is where I return to, even when it's falling apart.

98. 
    

99. RETURN TO PRESENT

100. 
     

101. Act 3

102. 
     

103. INT. BEDROOM -22:30

104. 
     

105. Peter uploads an image to a draft on his laptop. It shows the actual smoke over Tin Sum.

106. 
     

107. PETER (V.O.): Brotherhood is an active choice, renewed through shared action, not just blood.

108. 
     

109. Thinking.

110. 
     

111. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):  Cleaning the physical space is also cleaning the emotional space. Letting go of junk is letting go of what holds us back.

112. 
     

113. Reflecting.

114. 
     

115. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Tin Sum is a place on the map, But smoke over Tin Sum-that's  a place in the heart. That's where my family lives. That's where Dad still is.

116. 
     

117. The END

118. 
     

119. FADE OUT