FADE IN
Act 1
Watching Facebook reels randomly, Peter sees a scene of broken glasses all over the place.
PETER (V.O):What is this place?
Then, he sees on screen a workman shoveling the broken glass into a very hot furnace.
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): I see. Turning them into molten glass...
Then, he sees another workman putting pigments in different colours into different parts of the furnace.
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): Making colourful glasses?
Then, he sees molten glass rolling out from the furnace into rolling rods, manipulating them into shape.
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): Oh, that's how marbles are made.
Then, he sees the polishing and packaging scenes.
Act 2
FLASHBACK
EXT. TIN SUM SAN TSUEN - DAY (1960)
A flat ground outside the family home. Peter (6) holds a few colourful marbles, his eyes filled with excitement.
PETER (V.O): I bought them from a store in Hung Shui Kiu for 10 cents.
Peter kneels down on the ground, carefully arranging the marbles in a circle.
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): I want to shoot as strong as "Duck Mouth" and as accurate as Suk-ching.
Taking a deep breath, Peter flicks his thumb, sending a marble rolling slowly towards the side of others.
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): No, I've to practise more, or l'll lose all my marbles quickly.
Later, we see marbles colliding, creating a delightful clinking sound.
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): I love to hear that. My shooter marble is invincible!
Later, DUCK MOUTH and SUK-CHING join Peter in a game.
MONTAGE OF THE MARBLE PLAYING GAME (1960-1962)
A. Contributing equal numbers of marbles each, they put them inside a circled target area.
B. To determine who is to begin first, they throw their shooter marble towards a horizontal line about 3 meters away from them.
C. As his shooter marble is closer to the line than the shooter marbles of Suk China and Peter, "Duck Mouth" starts to throw his shooter marble from the line towards a small hole about 3 meters from them.
D. Although Suk-ching starts second, she's the first to have her shooter marble entering the hole. Being qualified to win, she aims at the target area.
E. Starting last, Peter is still struggling to get his wandering shooter marble entering the small hole.
F. Then, we see "Duck Mouth's shooter marble knocking out marbles from the target area. He puts them inside his pocket.
G. Then, we see Suk-Ching's shooter marble knocking out one marble from the target area. She keeps her win.
H. When he's qualified to win, Peter shoots but has his shooter marble trapped inside the target area. He looks frustrated.
I. We follow Peter to watch "Duck Mouth" and Suk-ching, attempting to hunt his shooter marble in turns.
J. A year later. When Peter's skills are on par with "Duck Mouth" and Suk-ching, he is playing in the playground alone.
K. Months later. We follow Peter to watch a FARMER digging the marble playground, turning it into an open drain for his paddy field.
END MONTAGE
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): The rules of the marble playing game differ. I believe we devised our own.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): Even then, I thought I was lucky to have had such marble playing experience.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd):Kids living in the urban area in those days could only play marbles over iron manhole covers in the streets.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): Perhaps, to knock out other's marbles from the manhole cover and to have one's shooter marble remaining inside requires a higher skill.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): Anyhow, I've never played the marble playing game with my children.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): And so, I've never had the opportunity to pass on my skills to them.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): But my family did play golf together. Is golf an expensive way of playing marbles?
Act 3
INT. STUDY - 21:30
Peter inserts an AI drawing entitled "Rolling Back Time..." to a text.
PETER (V.O): Marbles represent cherished momentos that hold an emotional connection to the past.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): Rolling back in time, I revisit my childhood and relive the happiness that marbles brought to my life.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): I value and remember the small joys that shape who I'm.
FADE OUT
THE END
