The Tidier End

1. FADE IN

2. 
   

3. Act 1

4. 
   

5. INT. LIVING ROOM - 11:00

6. 
   

7. Sound of the distinctive Duolingo "correct" chime, one after another, in quick succession.

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9. PETER (V.O.): I've maintained my streaks in seven languages.

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11. On the screen, we see the icons for his languages: Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Korean. Each streak is alive, flames burning. He closes his app and sits before a piano.

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13. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Let me play Erroll Garner's "Misty".

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15. His hands hover over the keys. They're capable, but not a pianist's hands.

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17. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Can I remember all the chords?

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19. As Peter plays the A section, we hear the sophisticated harmony. Peter then repeats the harmonic and melodic pattern with slight variations in melody or accompaniment.

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21. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But I don't have any visual memory of the last few chords of the bridge.

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23. Peter opens his RedMi Pad2 and taps an online tutorial to refresh his memory.

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25. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I choose to engage life vigorously. Vitality is a choice maintained through deliberate, challenging routines.

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27. Act 2

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29. EXT. SILVERSTRAND BAY - 13:00

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31. Peter swims toward the outer edge of the swimming area.

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33. PETER (V.O.): The water is clear but cold.

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35. Reaching one corner.

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37. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Better the salt of the sea in my last breath than the scent of antiscptic in my lasting memory.

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39. Reaching another corner.

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41. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The heart isn't meant to be idled to a stop. Let it beat its last in full rhythm, chasing something.

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43. Peter swims back to the shore.

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45. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A life that culminates in pursuit leaves a different kind of echo - not of regret, but of momentum.

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47. INT. LIVING ROOM - 16:00

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49. On a large TV, a Korean drama plays. Peter sits across his WIFE. He watches the screen intensely, his lips moving slightly, trying to shape the syllables.

50. 
    

51. PETER: I could only grasp a handful of the words from the dialogues.

52. .

53. Slowly, Peter's breathing deepens. He slumps gently against the sofa cushion, asleep. About an hour later, his wife turns off the TV.

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55. WIFE: Time to wake up. We've to be at the restaurant by 7pm.

56. 
    

57. Peter stirs.

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59. WIFE (Cont'd): You fell asleep shortly after the 2nd episode began.

61. PETER (V.O.): Learning Korean and other languages is one of my ways to engage my mind and to prevent it from idling. But...

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63.  INT. RESTAURANT - 19:30

64. 
    

65. Peter and his wife plays hosts. The table showcases a lobster, Beijing duck, roast goose, sea squids and sauteed vegetables. MALCOM and ELAINE have a comfortable, visiting energy.

66. 
    

67. PETER: Have more...My wife has been on diet...

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69. WIFE: But when I'm travelling, I'd suspend that. Peter swims every day.

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71. PETER: Yes. Yesterday, at the Golden Bay; today at the Silverstrand Bay.

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73. Malcolm and Elaine look amused.

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75. PETER (Cont'd) : I know the risk. Every time I swim in the sea, I think: My end might come in the middle of it...

76. 
    

77. Malcolm is silent, absorbing this.

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79. PETER (Cont'd): My doctor - good man, practical - observes that a death encountered in the pursuit of living is preferable to a prolonged, institutionalized decline.

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81. Malcolm is shocked, taking a moment to process the observation.

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83. MALCOLM: We've nothing left to prove, so we can afford to be bold.

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85. PETER: I confront mortality to appreciate life better.

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87. MALCOLM: I'll quote that in your memorial service.

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89. PETER (V.O.): A tidier end isn't about neatness. It's about congruence - dying as I lived, not as I declined.

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91. Bowls of sweet red bean soup are served.

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93. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There's no courage in avoiding the end. The courage is in living so fully that the end becomes just another part of the action.

94. 
    

95. Peter pays the bill.

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97. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My final scene should be written by my passions, not by my precautions.

98. 
    

99. They leave.

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101. Act 3

102. 
     

103. INT. LIVING ROOM - 22:45

105. Peter uploads a photo depicting a pristine beach stretching along the calm water, framed by gentle hills and clear blue skies to a draft on his laptop.

106. 
     

107. PETER (V.O.): I don't fear the cold water; I fear the warm blanket of complacency. The tidier end is the one I swim toward, not the one that settles around me.

108. 
     

109. Thinking.

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111. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I spend my life editing my loves, my regrets, my very self. Let the final cut be bold, choose the tidier end found in the pursuit, not the comfortable fade.

112. 
     

113. Reflecting.

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115. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To a life lived in verbs, the tidier end isn't a period. It's a colon: an introduction to whatever comes next.

116. 
     

117. The END

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119. FADE OUT