The ESP Shuffle
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Jul 4
- 3 min read
FADE IN
Act 1
INT. FAT BOY'S GARAGE - 18:15 (Yesterday)
A micro business. PETER walks towards a deep-blue Marcedes E-class Avant Garde - the only car there. FAT BOY greets him.
FAT BOY: Mr Cheung, the car's ready.
Peter runs a hand over the boot lid.
FAT BOY (Cont'd): New battery. Codes cleared. ESP warning message gone.
Peter doesn't look convinced.
PETER (V.O.): Last time, it was the auxilary battery. The ESP warning message was gone before. Then it came back.
FAT BOY (Cont'd): This time it's the main battery. It was last replaced in 2023...
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It should last 5-6 years...
Peter pays.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I can see how hard it is to run a twilight business.
Act 2
FLASHBACK
INT. ESTATE CAR PARK - DAY (20 June, 2026)
Peter is at the driver seat of his Mercedes. We see the ESP warning message on the dashboard.
PETER (V.O.): Fat boy said it was the auxilary battery. He changed it. When I got back the car and made my second trip, the warning message came back.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I found the trick online...the steering angle sensor.
He turns the steering wheel all the way right, all the way left, then centers it.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): This is the ESP Shuffle. The warning message should go away the next time I start the car.
The next day. Peter gets into the car, starts it, focuses on the dashboard.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): No ESP warning message!
Happily, he pulls away.
EXT. ROADS, SILVERSTRAND - HOME - DAY (22 June, 2026)
Going downhill, Peter sees the ESP warning message on the dashboard.
PETER (V.O.): This is just the second trip.
INT. ESTATE CAR PARK - DAY
Having parked the car, Peter does the ESP Shuffle again.
PETER (V.O.): The ESP Shuffle isn't about fixing the car. It's about proving to myself I still can. Right. Left. Center.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And if the warning message stays off for one more trip, I've won. Even if until the next ignition.
EXT. ROADS, SILVERSTRAND - HOME - DAY (23 June, 2026)
Going downhill, Peter sees the ESP warning message on the dashboard again.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): OMG...so annoying. I'll let Fat Boy try again.
RETURN TO PRESENT
EXT. SILVERSTRAND BAY - 13:30
Having parked his Mercedes into a metered space, Peter takes a photo of it.
PETER (V.O.): The ESP warning message hasn't recurred.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I keep things not for their utility, but for who they connect me to.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I bought the car in 2002, soon after attending my friend Ah Chung's funeral. He got a paper one.
Sighing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My Malaysian lawyer friends told me that Mercedes prices in Malaysia were prohibitively high, whereas in Hong Kong the prices are reasonable.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And I wanted to prove to my Dad that I'd made it.
Peter speaks to the car: You stayed quiet today.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): At 72, I learn that most things don't get permanently fixed.
Act 3
INT. BEDROOM - 22:00
Peter uploads an image of his 2002 deep-blue Mercedes parked in Silverstrand Bay to a draft on his laptop.
PETER (V.O.): I learn the ESP Shuffle because some things are worth the extra effort - even when they keep failing me.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The ESP Shuffle works. Until it doesn't. And that's the whole joke about life I think I've mastered it, then I start the engine and the warning message comes back.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Every marriage has its own ESP Shuffle. I learn the right sequence of words, the right silences, the right gestures - to make the warning messages go away. For a while.
The END
FADE OUT
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