The Wisdom of Time

1. FADE IN

2. 
   

3. Act 1

4. 
   

5. INT. BEDROOM - 07:00

6. 
   

7. Waking up, PETER looks surprised to see his WIFE sleeping by his side.

8. 
   

9. Pausing.

10. 
    

11. PETER (V.O.): Binge-watching suspended?

12. 
    

13. Pausing.

14. 
    

15. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'm mindful with time-wasting activities.

16. 
    

17. Pausing.

18. 
    

19. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): How fulfilling a life can be by allowing oneself to be manipulated by screenplay writers?

21. Observing her sleeping wife.

22. 
    

23. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): However, I think she's wise, striving not to sleep away her time.

24. 
    

25. Act 2

26. 
    

27. INT. YMCA HOTEL - 18:00

28. 
    

29. Seeing his FRIEND (70), Peter greets him with a warm smile.

30. 
    

31. PETER: Good to see you again in Hong Kong!

32. 
    

33. FRIEND: You knew I suffered a stroke recently. I thought I might not travel again!

34. 
    

35. PETER (V.O.): His spirit remains resilient.

36. 
    

37. PETER: Where would you like to have dinner?

38. 
    

39. They see the hotel's Mall Cafe.

40. 
    

41. PETER (Cont'd): Here or elsewhere?

42. 
    

43. FRIEND: Here's good enough. I'm not physically fit anymore.

44. 
    

45. PETER (V.O.): I thought of taking him to Sai Kung...

46. 
    

47. FRIEND: It's the exchanges that count.

48. 
    

49. Soon, Peter and his friend are led to sit in a spacious and quiet corner.

50. 
    

51. PETER: See what you'd like to have?

52. 
    

53. FRIEND: Something simple will do.

54. 
    

55. PETER (V.O.): True, we'd eat dinner like a pauper.

56. 
    

57. Having done their orders, they begin to chat.

58. 
    

59. FRIEND: Sometime after your visit, I moved to a bungalow by the sea.

60. 
    

61. PETER: Your premises was already near the sea.

62. 
    

63. FRIEND: I'm watching the sea from the veranda whether shine or rain.

64. 
    

65. PETER: How nice!

66. 
    

67. FRIEND: I also practise my 10-hole Chinese flute during the day and gaze the stars at night.

68. 
    

69. PETER: Wow! That's wonderful.

71. The conversations then turn to law and intellectual property.

72. 
    

73. PETER (Cont'd): ...there's a lot on the policy front, but the markets in mainland China, Europe and US dictate.

74. 
    

75. FRIEND: Yes, you're right.

76. 
    

77. PETER (V.O.): We're on the same page, having been IP business friends since the late 1980s.

78. 
    

79. Later, Peter takes a selfie of them. We see his friend putting a V sign with his fingers.

80. 
    

81. PETER: Be mindful if you share this photo publicly. Your biometrics might be copied, generating a risk.

82. 
    

83. FRIEND: I've little to lose now.

84. 
    

85. PETER: Aren't you enjoying your carefree life?

87. FRIEND: Yes, I'm - "the Old Man and the Sea"...

88. 
    

89. PETER: Hemingway died at the age 61. He shot himself.

90. 
    

91. FRIEND: I don't know about that.

92. 
    

93. PETER: Shakespeare died today ie April 23, 401 years ago, at the age of 52.

94. 
    

95. FRIEND: Oh...

96. 
    

97. PETER: And Napoleon Bonaparte died at the age of 51...although millions under his command or reign died younger than him.

98. 
    

99. PETER (Cont'd): We're privileged!

100. 
     

101. Act 3

102. 
     

103. INT. BEDROOM - 20:00

104. 
     

105. Peter inserts an AI drawing entitled "The Wisdom of Time..." to a draft.

106. 
     

107. PETER (V.O): With the passage of time, my friend and I have gained valuable insights and life lessons.

109. Thinking.

110. 
     

111. PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): The profound perspective and wisdom can only be attained through the accumulation of years. But people get old too soon but wise too late.

112. 
     

113. Reflecting.

114. 
     

115. PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): I think the wisdom of time has a certain poetic and philosophical quality, if we spend time in a fulfilling fashion.

116. 
     

117. FADE OUT

118. 
     

119. THE END