FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. SITTINT ROOM - DAY
PETER sees his younger DAUGHTER putting print photos in print albums.
PETER: Can I see some of the albums?
Daughter points to a pile of albums.
DAUGHTER: These three have just been filled up.
Peter begins to view pages and pages of photos.
PETER (V.O.): Oh, these photos were taken in the late 1990s, before she was born...
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): While my children were young, I took lots of photos, knowing they're the return tickets to moments otherwise gone.
Viewing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Now, they mean more to me.
Act 2
INT. SITTING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Peter's WIFE appears.
WIFE: Our younger daughter wants to see the photos when she was a kid. So, I've mined the photos...
Pausing.
WIFE (Cont'd): And the albums I bought. They've never been filled.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.): Now, she's inserting her young photos by herself. How fast time flies by?
Peter nods. Then, he shows some photos to his SON to see.
PETER: Look at you...
SON: Where was I?
PETER: We're touring Malacca. Can't you see its landmark?
SON: Yes, I can. But I can't remember...
PETER: You're nearly 10 then...
Then, Peter sees quite a lot of photos featuring a WOMAN carrying KIDs.
PETER (V.O.): She's our first domestic helper. She toured with us, taking care of our kids.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We paid her well and treated her as part of the family. She worked with us for over 7 years.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Then she joined her Hong Kong partner.
Sighing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Years later, she passed away. She was only in her mid 50s.
Peter discovers something.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, I couldn't recall taking photos with them.
We see in one photo a black-haired Peter posing with a silvery-haired LADY, and another one with a silvery-haired GENTLEMAN.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The lady was Mrs Insinger. I lived in her house in Den Haag for a month in the summer of 1987. I was then following a summer course in the Hague Academy of International Law.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): She was a widow of a Dutch diplomat. She introduced me to the gentleman - one of his diplomat friends.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The gentleman was Mr de Boer, a former Dutch Consul General in Hong Kong.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): He said he preferred working as Consul General in Hong Kong rather than as the Dutch Ambassador to Austria.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I revisited them again in the late 1990s. Mrs Insinger was already living in an elderly home and couldn't remember me.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As to Mr de Boer, he had become forgetful too. And then we corresponded for a year or two before I got a funeral notice in Dutch.
Sighing again.
Act 3
INT. SITTING ROOM - CONTINOUS
Seeing the image of a cute little girl in a kindergarten, Peter captures the image with his smart phone.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Looking back, our elder daughter showed her thoughtful character even when young.
Seeing another photo of the little girl playing with snow, Peter again captures the image.
Pausing.
It was her first snowy experience. We're visiting S Korea.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):How would I have speculated that his boyfriend is from S Korea.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yes, they're good moments. She might like to see them.
Peter sends the images via his smart phone.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The photos reflect our then, we're the now. I suppose we all like to hang out with our younger selves.
Peter's younger daughter continues to put photos in print albums.
FADE OUT.
THE END
top of page
Search
Recent Posts
See Allbottom of page
Comments