Yuen Long Public Pool
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Jun 5
- 3 min read
FADE IN
Act 1
INT. BEDROOM - 09:00
Through the window, the sky is blue. PETER pulls out his phone. A FB post with photos appears.
PETER (V.O.): The Hong Kong dramatist died. 89 years. Never married. Lived with his parents...
Peter puts the phone down. Stares at the ceiling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What if I never met my loved ones? What if I stay alone like him?
Peter shrugs.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I knew it's hard to make adaptive changes.
His sleepy WIFE enters and climbs slowly onto the bed.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): She loves to chase K-dramas during the night. We've been keeping opposite hours since her retirement two years ago.
Act 2
EXT. YUEN LONG PUBLIC POOL - 11: 30
Underwater. Bubbles. Light shattering through water. Peter's arms slice through - freestyle, clean, efficient.
PETER (V.O.): Yuen Long public pool isn't that beautiful. It's honest though. No one comes here to impress anyone.
Swimming in a lane.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Every lane is a life. I stay in mine. Sometimes I glance sideways. That's all that intimacy I get.
Peter finishes his first lap. Taps the wall. Turns. He hears a voice.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Is someone talking to me?
He sees a MAN (72) resting against wall remarking on him directly.
MAN: ...Very smooth...Where do you live?
PETER: Kowloon.
MAN: Kowloon? To swim in Yuen Long public pool? Your wife and children are living in Kowloon?
PETER: Yes, but I was raised in Yuen Long. How about you?
MAN: I operate a store in Shui Tsiu for nearly 60 years now. You finished your swimming? We can eat something together...
PETER: I've just done my first lap...
PETER (V.O.): The water doesn't care if you're married or alone. That's why we stay in it so long.
Peter pushes off, seeing the man's loneliness radiating off him like heat from the tiles. The man is gone.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): He left a wet footprint on the tile. By the time I finished my second lap, it was gone. That's how long a stranger stays.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My wife sleeps through my swim. She doesn't know about the man. She doesn't need to.
INT. PETER'S NT HOME - 14: 45
Relaxing on a sofa, Peter takes out his phone and opens FB.
PETER (V.O.): Someone shares a past interview with the late Hong Kong dramatist.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): He believes there's always the next one?
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Later, he admits he's wrong. There isn't.
Another post appears on Peter's phone screen: A happy couple before a wedding backdrop.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The bridegroom is older than me and the bride is 40 years his junior.
Peter scrolls past.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A "single" life isn't inherently tragic nor is marriage inherently fulfilling.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Romantic optimism is valuable - but only if one keeps moving. Standing still, waiting for a future love, can leave one stranded in the past.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): While finding a good mix and match might be beyond one's control, one's adaptation to a single relationship is significant.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): However, what works for one person might not work for another. Love isn't one-size-fits-all.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I don't need a perfect relationship. I need the willingness to keep returning to the same address.
Act 3
INT. LIVING ROOM - 20:00
Peter uploads an image to a draft on his laptop. It captures a sunny day at the Yuen Long public pool.
PETER (V.O.): Loneliness can exist inside marriage. A public pool is where lonely people go to pretend they're just exercising.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The man by the wall wasn't asking where I lived. He was asking anyone would eat with him.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yuen Long public pool isn't where I go to think. It's where I go to stop thinking. And then I think anyway.
The END
FADE OUT
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