The Jade White Orchid Tree Project
Updated: Aug 6
FADE IN
Act 1
INT. LIVING ROOM - 14:45
Modest and tidy. PETER sits on a sofa, completing his daily Duolingo streak in Spanish. He glances at the window.
PETER (V.O.): It seems the rest of the day will be dry.
A message concerning The Jade White Orchid Tree Project pops up in his WhatsApp group chat.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Starting at 15:30?
Peter types his reply on screen: I'll rush back. He closes his Duolingo app with a decisive click
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Duolingo counts days. The tree project counts what matters.
He grabs his car keys.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Brother #1 meant to do that last Tueday. I meant to join. But it was called off due to rainstorms
Act 2
EXT. ROADS TO TIN SUM - CONTINUOUS
Peter drives a Previa. The landscape transitions from city to suburban. The clouds are still thick, but the air feels clean.
PETER (V.O.): About a fortnight ago, my brothers and a friend were cutting the top trunk section of the 30-feet tall tree.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I was notified and could understand that as a typhoon was appraoching.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We couldn't afford to wait. It wasn't safe for our neighbours...their house...the corrugated metal roof...
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Months ago, we agreed to hire professionals to do that and we had good money set aside.
INT. HOME, TIN SUM - 16:00
Peter arrives and enters a plot of land. The garden is a wild overgrown mess.
PETER (V.O.): OMG!
BROTHERS#1 and #2 appear with chainsaws in hand. They lead Peter to the far corner to see the remainder of a 20-feet stump standing starkly against the sky.
BROTHER#1: When Dad planted it, it was tiny.
PETER: Yes, that was in the late 1960s.
BROTHER#2: Dad planted it for Mum because she loved the scent.
PETER: Yes... but let me work on the garden first.
PETER (V.O.): I can't bear the choking weeds and the overgrown fence.
Peter grabs a heavy-duty sickle.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It was our garden, our parents' land.
Peter attacks the wild growth with a vengeance. He rips out vines, cuts down rogue shrubs, and hacks the fence line with controlled fury, clearing a space. Sweat pours down his face.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I feel fine now.
He walks over to his brothers. Brother #2 is on a ladder, pulling some branches away from the neighbour's house but loosing his balance. He falls.
PETER: OMG! Are you okay?
BROTHER#2; I land on my feet...Don't repeat my mistake.
Brother #1 takes his place. chainsaw in his hands. Peter holds the ladder and his brother's feet.
BROTHER#1: The easy cutting is almost complete... but the next target is challenging.
He climbs down, wiping his brow. He then points up to part of the trunk.
BROTHER#1: I need to put cut branches as buffers to protect the roof of our neighbour's house should it fall over there.
PETER: I think we need to control its fall precisely. We've ropes, right?
He follows Brother#1 to a shed to fetch a strength of ropes. He ties a careful loop-a lasso-with a sliding knot-at one end.
PETER (Cont'd):Brother, use the extendable saw to hang the lasso onto the trunk.
As it catches perfectly, Peter clinches it tight.
PETER (Cont'd): We can now guide where it falls, not just cut and hope.
As the blade bites into wood, it begins to groan.
BROTHER#2: It's going!
The trunk crashes away from their neighbour's house. All smile.
PETER (V.O.): I watched Western films as a boy. I tied a lasso as an old man. Some dreams just take 60 years to prove useful.
BROTHER#1: We've to do this ourselves because the professional we meant to hire died before he was supposed to come.
Act 3
INT. BEDROOM - 21:45
Peter uploads an image to a draft on his laptop. It shows a jade white orchid tree's branches and leaves while a cowboy lasso and an extendable saw are positioned against the limbs.
PETER (V.O.): Brother #2 fell and got back up. Brother #1 carried the weight of a dead man's promise alone. I held the ladder and the legs of Brother#1. That's what brothers do. We hold.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My brothers and I know we're also holding each other's fragile, aging, stubborn hearts.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The Jade White Orchid tree was planted for love. A large part of it is being cut down for safety. But the love never fell, it only changed shape.
The END
FADE OUT
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