FADE IN
Act 1
INT. STUDY - 12:00
PETER taps "leave" on his iPad Mini screen.
PETER (V.O.): It has never occurred to me that I'd have the opportunity to interact with the 1st President of HKUST.
Peter grabs his smart phone.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A history professor I also engaged with is the son of a Chinese-American physicist, who won a Nobel prize in 1957.
Peter sees many financial notifications on screen.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the Zoom meeting just then, I felt the dramatic effect of six degrees of separation.
Peter taps his investment portfolio to check.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Last Monday, it was still hell. This Monday, I see stairway to heaven.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What to celebrate?
Act 2
MONTAGE OF PETER'S INITIAL CELEBRATIONS
A. Restaurant. Peter enjoys salads, soup, baked chicken fettuccine and Italian ice cream.
B. Swimming pool. Peter swims leisurely breast strokes, freestyle, back strokes and butterfly style.
C. Streets. Observing the environment and activities, Peter takes photos from different angles.
END MONTAGE
INT. MALL - 16:30
Peter enters a shop selling DVDs.
PETER (V.O.): With the online option, there're now very few such shops.
Peter sees other CUSTOMERS.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'm trying my luck again. I want to buy the DVD of the 1956 film "Around the World in 80 Days".
Checking the DVDs on display.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):When I saw the film with my parents in the late 1950s, we're still living in Central.
Then, a DVD gets Peter's attention.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, "The Magnificent Seven"! When I watched this film, my family had already moved to Tin Sum San Tsuen.
Picking it up, Peter holds the DVD in his hand.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I remember well the 7 heroes...
FLASHBACK
INT. CONGRESS, HONG KONG CONVENTION & EXHIBITION CENTRE - NIGHT (2008)
A private room. Seven MEN including Peter are gathering.
PETER:...We're the magnificent seven! Let's call our group "M7".
RETURN TO PRESENT
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As it's hard to fix a night convenient to all, I proposed and others agreed that we would meet on the 1st Monday evening of every month...
Checking the titles of other DVDs.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If we maintained our practice, we should be meeting tonight...
Repeats.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Covid is one reason that has prevented us from meeting...
Then, Peter discovers the DVD of the film "West Side Story". He keeps it in his hand too.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I watched this epic musical film in Yuen Long Cinema. I loved the songs "America". "Tonight" and "Maria".
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But it was many years later that I learned the story was inspired by Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet".
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I watched the film in Tong Lok Cinema in the late 1960s, I thought the actor and the actress were the most beautiful couple in the world.
Peter shrugs his shoulders.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I bought the DVD of "Romeo & Juliet" many years ago. They always look the same in the film.
Paying the two DVDs at the cashier, Peter looks happy.
Act 3
INT. STUDY - 20:00
Staring at the DVDs "West Side Story" and "The Magnificent Seven", Peter is in thoughts.
PETER (V.O.): In the end, it isn't the years but the life that counts.
Peter captures a photo of the DVDs.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):The more I celebrate life, the more there's in life to celebrate.
Peter focuses on the DVDs' Chinese titles.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Even the Chinese titles sound good... A good life is a collection of good memories.
Tapping his smart phone, Peter watches the theme song of "Romeo & Juliet". And we hear: What is a youth? Impetuous fire...A rose will bloom, it then will fade...
THE END
FADE OUT
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