Writing
Ingrained Thinking
I wrote an unpublished short piece about how traditional culture ingrains one's thinking. I turned it into a script.
FADE IN:
INT. RESTAURANT - EVENING
It's Chinese New Year. YING (75) finishes eating dinner with her daughter SU (50).
SU
Do you need a walker, Ma?
YING
No. It's Chinese New Year. I can still walk.
SU
But you are having pain in your legs.
Ying feels her heart murmur. She touches her chest and takes a deep breath. She struggles to get up, her legs wobbling, her hands pushing the chair's armrest. She huffs and puffs, getting up.
SU
We need to take you to the hospital.
YING
No. It's bad luck to go to hospital during Chinese New Year.
Ying plops back to her chair. Her vision is blurry.
SU
Ma. You are ill and need to see a doctor. Please, Ma.
Ying presses against left chest, then with a flick of her other hand. Her face suddenly turns pale. Her eyes shut.
SU (CONT'D)
(Shaking her mother)
Ma? Are you OK?
Sue grabs her phone and dials 911.
FADE OUT:
INT. French Hospital - EVENING
Ying lies in bed, her eyes downcast, her lips pursed. Su stands beside her mother's bed quietly. A DOCTOR (50) steps in.
DOCTOR
Your mom is lucky. Her pacemaker runs out of battery.
SU
How long does it last?
DOCTOR
Usually every ten years-if your mom exercises daily to maintain her battery's life.
Su tells her mom in Chinese. Ying bats her eyes beyond the window at a piece of red paper floating in the air. Her lips still pursed, her teary eyes shut.
FADE OUT.
THE END