FADE IN.
Act 1
EXT. CAR PARK, HKUST - 08:45
Multi-storey. Arriving in a open-air floor with a red coupe, PETER looks surprised.
PETER (V.O.): It's empty. No one parks here! It was always full.
Peter parks his coupe, as other passing cars go to other floors.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'm so glad that I can park here. It's open and bright. How nice it is!
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've been volunteering my service here since 2016. Some salaried personnel I worked with have already retired.
Holding an iPad Mini, Peter shoots some video clips of the environment.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Today's a cloudy day. It's gloomy too.
Peter shoots some more clips.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I want to include some clips here in a video to celebrate the arrival of 2022, I'd only come back after the New Year.
Act 2
FLASHBACK
INT. CAR REPAIRER - DAY (A fortnight ago)
Examining his red coupe in the presence of a MECHANIC, Peter looks excited.
PETER (V.O.): My coupe's mini overhaul has taken three months to complete.
MECHANIC: Your coupe is quite powerful now.
Having settled the bill, Peter drives the coupe away.
PETER (V.O.) : Wow! It's powerfully different, as if it has been reborn!
EXT. ROADS TO HKUST - 08:30 (Earlier)
We see Peter's coupe going uphill swiftly.
PETER (V.O.): I feel young to drive this 32-year old coupe again!
END FLASHBACK
INT. COUNCIL CHAMBERS, HKUST - 12:00
Peter listens to an intervention very attentively.
PETER (V.O.): A student jumped from the multi-storey car park to his death after an exam yesterday?
FLASHBACK
INT. MAIN BUILDING, HKU - DAY (1982)
Leaving the exam hall, Peter looks depressed.
PETER (V.O.): I've so much to write in my answers that I spent two hours for the first two questions and the remaining hour to answer another two questions.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): I was very well prepared, but I didn't manage my time well. I've myself to blame.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): If I fail the paper, I may have to discontinue my law studies. How am I going to face those who wish me successful and those who are jealous of me?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): I don't have to worry if I don't exist anymore.
END FLASHBACK
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've every empathy with the student who killed himself.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Having my wife's support, we went to movies, distracting my worries. Enlightened by the movie messages, I took a wait-and-see approach.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When the exam results were announced, I found that I didn't fail in the subject; I even scored a credit.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I was fortunate that I didn't do anything drastic.
RETURN TO PRESENT
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Being dead isn't the same as being in a long sleep as one can't rise again.
Act 3
EXT. CAR PARK, HKUST - 13:45
Returning, Peter sees no empty parking spaces.
PETER (V.O.): Have I set a good example by accident?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Or have they purged their bad memories and quickly purified themselves?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I think the better course is to die just a little, inside, so that one may become stronger and wiser again.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To be reborn, one has to have the courage to rise like a phoenix from temporary setbacks.
Peter drives away his coupe like a phoenix.
FADE OUT
THE END
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