What to Keep
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Nov 2, 2021
- 2 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. STUDY - 10:00
PETER checks the changing numerals on his smartphone screen.
PETER (V.O.): Wow! The stock market has risen sharply. Why?
Checking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As I won't sell or buy high, there's nothing I need to do.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Let me first go swimming in Golden Beach and then declutter my NT home.
EXT. ROADS - 11:30
Driving, Peter is listening to the radio.
PETER (V.O.): Oh, the stocks have already surrendered most of their early gains?
Act 2
EXT. GOLDEN BEACH - 12:45
Towing a green swim buoy, Peter swims breast strokes.
PETER (V.O.): Swimming in the bay waters is a lot better than in swimming pools.
From one side of the swimming area, Peter reaches the other side.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): So quick? Was I flowing with the tide too?
Turning around, Peter swims in the opposite direction.
PETER (V.O.): Ah, I'm swimming against the tide now.
Peter begins to swim free style.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've to change the style or I won't swim anywhere.
Peter swims and swims.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's hard. But it should develop my muscles.
Returning to shore, Peter looks tired.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've done my quota today.
INT. LAKESIDE RESTAURANT - 14: 30
Glued to his smartphone screen. Peter eats his tea set.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, most stocks have negative gains. Gravity is at work. I've to buy low to average down the costs of my portfolio.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But I won't buy much as the stock market may continue to fall.
Tapping on his smartphone, Peter adds some salad sauce finger prints.
INT. PETER'S NT HOME - 16:00
Peter monitors numerals on the smartphone screen.
PETER (V.O.): The Hang Seng index has retreated for a sixth trading day.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For weeks, I flowed with the stock tide and gained day after day, easily.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For the past six days, I've been swimming against the stock tide, striving to lose less.
Pausing
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As my investment goal is a long-term one, I needn't bother with the daily fluctuations.
Peter looks at the stuff near him
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I can treat the stocks like the stuff that I've been keeping here.
Peter checks a document inside a file.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I see. The reason why I've been keeping it is because it documented a story.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I was a Delegate in the UK Delegation in WIPO sessions in Geneva before 1997.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I was quite an impossible Delegate then.
Peter takes a photo of the document.
Act 3
INT. STUDY - 23:00
Peter is in thoughts.
PETER (V.O.): In decluttering, I actually decide on what to keep than what to throw away.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When something has jogged my memory, I can decide at ease if I'd continue to keep it, throw it away or take an image of it.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Although my NT home is like a storeroom, I try to leave fewer troubles to my family when I'm gone.
Peter takes a look of his Investment List on his smartphone screen.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For any positive gains, their decluttering should be easy.
FADE OUT
THE END
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