A Walk At Night

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A WALK AT NIGHT
by
Matthew Ware

Inspired by
White Light by Lu Xun
The Painter of Modern Life by Charles Baudelaire
Songs of Innocence by William Blake

Lit/Hum II
Prof. Mark Joyce
April 2015

Matthew Ware
6 College Avenue East #11-06
Singapore, 138614

INT. JUNIOR COLLEGE HALLWAY - AFTERNOON
We move down a long hallway. It’s strangely vacant at the
end of the busy exam period at a big Singapore junior
college. No more students choping tables with backpacks to
study, no more problem sets done hastily five minutes before
class starts...
Our protagonist, RACHEL, a girl of about 18-19 and in her
last year of school, walks haplessly along the corridor.
She’s wearing the sort of shirt that comes from a required
Physical Education uniform, along with slightly baggy
athletic pants and thick-rimmed glasses. She’s attractive,
if perhaps a bit unkempt, with strands of her hair blowing
defiantly in the light breeze.
And there it is. The EXAM RESULTS BOARD. It looks imposing,
with the century-old crest of HEN NAN INSTITUTION gracing
the top, and the classic list of scores and names, there for
public praise and public shame.
She traces across with her finger... NO! She’s failed her
exams yet again.
Rachel turns and walks back in the other direction, out of
the school, until she reaches the BUS STOP.
EXT. BUS STOP - EARLY EVENING
She pulls a PHONE out of her pocket. There’s a message on
the screen.
Mum: Exam got what score?
Mum: When are you coming home?
Rachel sighs, starting to type a response... she can’t.
Still in a state of shock, she slips the phone back into her
pocket, waiting until a bus arrives.
CUT TO:
INT. HAWKER CENTRE - EVENING
Rachel picks slowly at her plate, moving some noodles around
from one side to the other... she pulls out a book, and
begins to read the first few pages.
It is LU XUN’S short stories...
Suddenly her phone rings, and she puts it on the table,
staring blankly at it... it’s a call from her grandmother.
On the last possible ring she picks it up.

2.

RACHEL
(speaking Chinese)
Hello?
GRANDMOTHER
(speaking Chinese)
How are you, my child? Your mother
tells me you haven’t been doing so
well in school... you must come
over and we’ll have tea like we
used to. Do you remember that?
RACHEL
(speaking Chinese)
Yes, I...
GRANDMOTHER
(cont’d)
It was so long ago, and you’ve
changed so much. But the kampong is
just the same. It’s calm and
peaceful in the kampong... you must
come here tonight...
The call disconnects with static.
RACHEL
(speaking Chinese)
Are you there?
There is no reply.
Rachel finishes her meal in silence, then steps out into the
city.
CUT TO:
EXT. CITY - NIGHT
She wanders through the streets of Chinatown, past the
durian seller and the sundry stores, the pawn shops that
promised quick cash for gold rings...
Then through the financial district, as the buildings get
taller... and then, out onto the concrete shore of Marina
Bay. For the first time she is a tourist, a stranger in her
own city.
Halfway across the twisting bridge, she looks back at the
skyline, and picks up her phone once more. She taps GRANDMA
in the address book, and the phone rings.

3.

GRANDMOTHER
(speaking Chinese)
How are you, my child? Your mother
tells me you haven’t been doing so
well in school... you must come
over and we’ll have tea like we
used to. Do you remember that?
We now realize that her grandmother’s voice is only a
recording... maybe she realises it too, but she keeps
listening.
GRANDMOTHER
(cont’d)
It was so long ago, and you’ve
changed so much.
INSERT: KAMPONG BUANGKOK/RIVER CHANNELS NEARBY KAMPONG.
GRANDMOTHER
(cont’d)
But the kampong is just the same.
It’s calm and peaceful in the
kampong... you must come here
tonight...
The call ends just like before. Determined now, she taps the
MAPS application, and enters an address:
6 OLD TOA PAYOH KAMPONG ROAD
The phone draws a walking path, with a journey of several
kilometres.
EXT. HOUSING ESTATES - NIGHT
Now turned off the main road, Rachel walks through row after
row of housing estates, the landscape transitioning, from
modern skyscrapers, through old shophouse streets, and
colourful high-rise flats, their colours faint in the yellow
light of street lamps.
EXT. CONSTRUCTION WALL/OLD KAMPONG - NIGHT
Rounding the corner, she finally reaches the old kampong.
ARRIVED AT THE DESTINATION, the map announces.
She looks around, puzzled. It’s not like she remembered.
There is only a construction wall, tall and imposing against
the night sky, and a sign:

4.

EXPERIENCE THE JOYS OF MODERN LIVING - ANOTHER QUALITY
PROJECT FROM HDB
Rachel takes the phone out of her pocket once more, and puts
it to her ear. The message starts playing again of its own
accord...
GRANDMOTHER
It was so long ago, and you’ve
changed so much. But the kampong is
just the same. It’s calm and
peaceful in the kampong... you must
come here tonight...
FADE OUT. END.

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