The Second Day of the Horse

1. Act 1

2. 
   

3. EXT. PAK SAU ROAD, KWU TUNG - 13:30

4. 
   

5. Peter's silver Previa is clean and spacious. PETER and his WIFE stand outside the sliding door of the car, helping Peter's MUM (96) into it. Peter's younger SON is in the driver seat.

6. 
   

7. PETER (V.O.): My mother has become tiny, bird-like. She has to wear thick clothes despite the mild weather.

8. 
   

9. Peter's Mum's movements are slow and deliberate.

10. 
    

11. WIFE: Mum. Watch your step.

12. 
    

13. PETER: That's it.

14. 
    

15. WIFE: Hold onto the car's handrail.

16. 
    

17. PETER: Easy now. You're in.

18. 
    

19. Peter's Mum lowers herself onto the middle-row seat on the passenger side. Peter pulls the door shut with a firm click.

20. 
    

21. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As my younger son drives, I can sit with my Mum.

22. 
    

23. Peter takes the middle-row seat from the driver side as his wife takes the front passenger seat.

24. 
    

25. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For the first time, I sit with my Mum side-by-side inside my car.

26. 
    

27. Act 2

28. 
    

29. EXT. ROUTE 9 TOWARDS YUEN LONG - CONTINUOUS

30. 
    

31. Peter's Previa. Peter's Mum stares out the window. Her lips are sunken, her face a peaceful, empty mask.

32. 
    

33. PETER: It's nice day for a drive. Mum. The sun is so bright.

34. 
    

35. Her Mum's gaze doesn't waver from the window.

36. 
    

37. PETER (V.O.): She seems to be looking at something far away, or nothing at all.

38. 
    

39. The space between Peter and his Mum is intimate.

40. 
    

41. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For decades, our conversations were about money. The only one that seemed to matter.

42. 
    

43. Pausing.

44. 
    

45. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But now...she's gone to a place where words don't reach.

46. 
    

47. Pausing.

48. 
    

49. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Even the money, the thing she cared for most, means nothing to her.

50. 
    

51. Pausing.

52. 
    

53. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): She can't hold it, can't spend it, can't even remember it.

54. 
    

55. The car cruises on.

56. 
    

57. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My late Dad and Mum started with nothing, built a life together, and gave me the gift of life.

58. 
    

59. Pausing.

60. 
    

61. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): They gave me life. It's so simple, isn't it?

62. 
    

63. Pausing.

64. 
    

65. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Everything else...the money, the wants, the sharp words in the past...that's all just noise.

66. 
    

67. Pausing.

68. 
    

69. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My Mum can't ask me for anything anymore. So now, I can just give.

70. 
    

71. Peter lifts his hand and touches his Mum's on the handrest.

72. 
    

73. INT. HUAYAN BANQUET, YOHO MIX - 15:30

74. 
    

75. A bustling, nosiy Hong Kong style restaurant. Four round tables are filled with family MEMBERS. Plates of food cover the Lazy Susan: crisy goose, fried prawns, steam fish, vibrant greens.

76. 
    

77. PETER (V.O.): The noise is a happy chaos.

78. 
    

79. A BROTHER helps their Mum distribute red packets to all the PARTICIPANTS.

80. 
    

81. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A few days ago, my youngest brother graciously agreed to prepare the red packets for our Mum.

82. 
    

83. Pausing.

84. 
    

85. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We decided that the money inside would follow her tradition of including only $10 bills.

86. 
    

87. Pausing.

88. 
    

89. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): She hoarded a fortune she can no longer count, for a future she can no longer see.

90. 
    

91. Peter gazes at his mother.

92. 
    

93. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I spent decades trying to fill her bank account. Now I just try to fill the silence beside her.

94. 
    

95. Pausing.

96. 
    

97. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There's a cruel irony in watching a lifetime of thrift dissolve into a moment where nothing is wanted, and nothing is needed, except the warmth of another person.

98. 
    

99. Pausing.

100. 
     

101. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Our deepest conversations happen in silence.

102. 
     

103. Act 3

104. 
     

105. EXT. ROUTE 9 TOWARDS KWU TUNG - 16:45

107. Peter's Previa. His younger SON drives. His wife is in the passenger seat. Peter sits in the middle row with his mother again.

108. 
     

109. PETER (V.O.): The first day of the horse is for ambition, for running towards the future. But the second day of the horse is for remembrance, for sitting quietly with the one who ran before us, even if she no longer remembers the race.

110. 
     

111. Thinking.

112. 
     

113. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The horse runs fast, but the second day moves slow. It's the day I sit beside the one who once carried me, and realize it's now my turn to carry her.

114. 
     

115. Reflecting.

116. 
     

117. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Gratitude isn't a feeling. It's a hand touching a tiny hand, unwilling to withdraw. And compassion is taught through example.

118. 
     

119. The END

120. 
     

121. FADE OUT