HOUR OF THE FLOWER

Written by

Grace Song

D12 17022023

Address grays.song@gmail.com
Phone Number +65 96227124
1 INT. TOILET - DAY 1

A lonely cigarette stands on the edge of a window pane. The

butt radiates eminently above shadows casted by the afternoon
sun. Drips from a leaking tap, a flush heard from upstairs
and the howling of wind. A picture of tropical flowers slide
in. In a distance, the preaching of recorded poetry recital.
Someone (MAY) tries to light a match.

THE VOICE (O.C.)

Be grateful little one,
for you have escaped
through the cracks.

A Garang Guni man’s horn beeps.

GARANG GUNI (O.C.)

Garang Guni! Siew poh zua, Pai
ladio (radio), tiansiki
(television)...

THE VOICE (O.C.)

when you were grinding your teeth
And collecting the scabs
Passed on to you from your
ancestors.
And those currently alive.

A layer of smoke rolls in, followed by a cough. Another

slide of tropical flowers roll in. A Malay folk song is
being sung nearby. The lonely cigarette is joined by
another, brought by smallish hands, like offering incense
to a God. A match is struck again. A ceramic pot crashes
onto the ground in a distance. A baby weeps.

THE VOICE (O.S.) (CONT’D)

Be grateful little one
For you have survived
Even though just barely
Through gnashing of teeth
Bloody and broken...

More smoke rolls in, followed by a bigger cough and a gag.

The poetry recital is rewound. Another cigarette joins the
two. Tropical flowers again. MAY (9), with glasses and
boyish hair, lights another cigarette, and sucks -- a poor
imitation of an adult smoking. She is holding a view master
(Stereoscope) and looking through it.

THE VOICE (O.C.) (CONT’D)

Be grateful- be - be grateful - be -
be grate-

The baby is hushed by the voice of her Mother. May gets up,
places the fourth cigarette and stares intently at it. A
television plays an Indian commercial in a distance,
something about the speak good english movement.
 2.

Like magic, the second cigarette falls, and rolls out of

the window, onto a smashed flower pot at ground floor. It
lies on the concrete floor, with blood pooling around it.

THE VOICE (O.C.) (CONT’D)

Be grateful little one,
for you have escaped
through the cracks.

A Bangladeshi worker powers his grass cutters.

Title: Hour of The Flower.

2 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 2

The sound of mowing grass. Sweaty May lies on the floor

under sunshine. She digs her nose, but immediately retracts
to sniff her fingers. May senses discomfort in her belly.
She flips open her pants to inspect. She looks through the
stereoscope and clicks - tropical flowers. The gate to the
front door creeks open. The sun dips. May takes the
forbidden cigarette pack.

3 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 3

The tiny living room is filled with an assortment of plants

and some flowers. Boxes of unopened essential supplies
crowd the already small apartment. The front door opens
with 7 month pregnant MOTHER with a stack of letters,
stained with specks of red paint, clutched under her armpit
and a watermelon in a big red plastic bag. She then takes
her loose change and drops it in a piggy bank. On the wall
is a calendar with a smiley face and the year 2000. May is
drinking a glass of water.

Mother begins opening letters. She stops for awhile, holds

onto her belly, her breath shallow in disjointed tempo. She
drops the watermelon on the side, it rolls out of the bag and
onto the middle of the living room as the television plays a
‘Speak Good English Movement’ advertisement - english words
on a blue screen. May tries to imitate Mother, clutching her
belly and breathing in and out while watching television.

4 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 4

She goes into her room while May peers in. Mother rummages
through her drawer only to find multiple empty packs of
cigarette, checking underneath knick knacks and clothes but
her pack of cigarettes is missing. On the drawer is a picture
of a man, a dead plant, empty cigarette boxes, an ashtray
with dead cigarettes, some butterfly hair accessories and a
tamagotchi. Mother tries to search for it elsewhere. On a
pile of boxes, a cassette tape player rests. On the floor are
piles of clothes and toys.
 3.

MAY
(GIBBERISH)
Mummy, the flower has a bug on
it.

She points at a vase in the living room. Mother wails

loudly in exasperation and rushes out to check on her
flowers.

5 INT. MOTHER’S ROOM - DAY 5

May places the pack of cigarettes back underneath the

clothes.

INT. MOTHER’S ROOM - DAY

Mother lights a cigarette while squinting at bills, she

flips out one envelope after another. She catches May
peeking at the door.

MOTHER
(GIBBERISH)
Get out get out.

Mother closes the door.

6 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 6

May looks out of the window, she sees a half naked man across
her block. He yawns as he stares at the sky. May looks
towards the blue cloudless sky. The man picks up a bucket of
water and throws it down the block without concern. May tries
to pick up the watermelon blocking the TV. May rolls the
watermelon around the living room. On the TV, it shows a
weather forecast, and a looming eclipse. She walks around the
room smelling flowers while rolling the watermelon. She
sneezes. She goes to a bouquet of baby’s breath and plucks
some out. She pops it into her mouth. A big cloud covers the
sky -- the light in the room disappears. The home phone rings
and Mother answers it. May spits out the flowers immediately
and puts it back into the arrangement. There's a commotion in
Mother's room, she gently opens the door.

7 INT. NURSERY - OFFICE - DAY 7

May has her ear on Mother’s belly. She listens.

MAY
(GIBBERISH, WHISPER)
How are you baby?

She kisses the belly. Mother is in deep conversation with a

PLANT DOCTOR.
 4.

PLANT DOCTOR (YONG MING)

(CANTONESE)
It happens more often than you
think. Sometimes you need to check
it again and again, don’t over do
it. It might be too late but we
need to do an inspection. You
should have come to me earlier when
you knew there was a problem.

MOTHER
(CANTONESE)
My husband— late husband was the
one who monitored them everyday. I
have no capacity to take care of
them anymore.

Mother moves abruptly and May loses contact with the baby.
Mother hands over a drooping plant in a pot to the Plant
Doctor. May roams around the room. He extracts the plant from
the pot to check the roots in the soil.

PLANT DOCTOR
(CANTONESE)
Just as I suspected. Root rot.

On the wall is a NO PAGES AND CELLPHONES graphic. On the

table is the Doctor’s Nokia phone. May looks through a
microscope and observes tiny microbes on a plant cell.

PLANT DOCTOR (CONT’D)

It’s the most common problem. If
you don’t check it fast, the whole
plant cannot save. I think this one
maybe can save. We’ll see.

May looks at Mother and the Plant doctor, he stands up.

PLANT DOCTOR (CONT’D)

(CANTONESE)
Follow me.

They go out of his office and into the nursery. May holds on
to her view master.

8 EXT. NURSERY - OFFICE - DAY 8

Plant Doctor, Mother and May walk out of a tarp hole.

9 INT. NURSERY - MAIN - DAY 9

May combs through the rows of plants through the aisles, she
looks back at Plant doctor and Mother. The Doctor places the
plant on a table and starts digging into the soil. Mother is
silently weeping.
 5.

PLANT DOCTOR
(CANTONESE)
Sister, it is okay, don’t need to
cry over it, it’s probably going to
die but you see this here.

The doctor points at a node and snips below it. May touches a
‘pregnant plant’.

PLANT DOCTOR (CONT’D)

Just put this in water, give it
sunlight, and you have a new plant -
-exactly the same. See, I told you,
can save one. Plants are like that.
But of course, you can always get a
new one. See, so many. I’ll give
you a discount if you buy more. I
know your husband, always come ask
me weird questions. Don’t worry, I
will take care of your needs. Your
plant needs.

May twirls around the plant doctor, he stares at her. She

accidentally bumps into him. Mother grabs May and forces her
to stand still.

PLANT DOCTOR (CONT’D)

(CANTONESE)
Little girl, be careful, there
are many precious and expensive
flowers around, please don’t hurt
yourself. How old are you?

May looks at the plant doctor and flips out nine fingers to
show him.

PLANT DOCTOR (CONT’D)

(CANTONESE)
Wah! So old already, must take care
of your mother…

Ignoring the Plant Doctor, May sways further away from

them.

MOTHER (O.C.)
(CANTONESE)
Sorry, she’s always in her own
world, please continue.

PLANT DOCTOR (O.C.)

(CANTONESE)
You should get her checked up, my
son also very problematic. Scream
here scream there. I honestly don’t
know what to do. I also don’t know
what he is thinking. Every time he
screams at the fluorescent lights.
(MORE)
 6.
PLANT DOCTOR (O.C.) (CONT'D)
Now our house is very dark, day
becomes night.

10 EXT. NURSERY - DAY 10

May runs through a small path.

MAY
(WHISPER)
Monstera deliciosa. Monstera
Adansonii. Corytoplectus
Cutucuensis. Peperonmia
Obtusifolia. Sanseveria
Trifasciata. Philodendron
Gloriosum. Alocasia Sanderiana.
Begonia Maculata. Asparagus
Plumosus.

May chants this like a mantra. She combs her hands through
the daisies. She stands on a big rock with wind in her hair.
It leads her to a porcelain wasteland. She stares out into a
swamp, listening to small birds. May takes out her viewmaster
and snaps. Tall trees, thick shrubs, a dandelion. She picks
it up and blows on it. In the background, the intercom rings
to the tune of ‘Beautiful Dreamer by Stephen Foster’. May
starts to stim by moving around in an awkward dance (intense
bouncing). The music gets louder and louder, it seems to be
coming from a displaced pot of Bougainvilleas, in the middle
of nowhere. May plucks the heads of Bougainvilleas and lines
them up. From the Bougainvillea pot, the conversation of
Mother and the Plant Doctor can be heard.

PLANT DOCTOR (O.C.)

(CANTONESE)
Anyway, why don’t you look around
for something new — we have many
imported varieties, very rare, very
exotic, very beautiful.

May checks on Mother to make sure she isn’t found out and
continues to line the flowers up. She stares at the row. A
flower slowly moves out of line. She frowns and brings it
back. It moves out of line again.

PLANT DOCTOR (CONT’D)

Recently I’ve been feeling a little
strange.

MOTHER (O.C.)
(CANTONESE)
Strange? You feel it too? I thought
it was just me.

Amongst the thick bushes, something moves, part of a

watermelon peeks out. May stares at the fruit monster . She
takes the viewfinder, snaps it, looks back. The fruit monster
comes closer. May gives her her viewmaster to play with.
 7.

A hand made of fruit comes out from behind the shrubs and
gives her a 20 cent coin. The monster snaps the viewmaster, a
picture of May.

PLANT DOCTOR (O.C.)

(CANTONESE)
Yes. I tell you a secret, I have a
prophetic gift. I think we need to
look after ourselves more these
days. Drink more water, take
vitamin C. Weather getting hotter
and hotter.

MOTHER (O.C.)
(CANTONESE)
It’s just Singapore.

PLANT DOCTOR (O.C.)

(Cantonese)
Could you hand that over to me?

Mother takes the pruners. The Plant Doctor cuts the blackened
parts of the roots. A bead of sweat runs down his forehead. A
haze (like fumigation) slowly spreads. Mother starts sobbing,
she puts her head onto the plant doctor’s chest. The Plant
Doctor doesn’t give her any sympathy.

PLANT DOCTOR (CONT’D)

I just feel very uncomfortable but
I don’t know why. I hope it’s not
cancer. Anyway, you shop around —
if you buy more, I give you more
discounts.

A loud crash is heard. An old lady has dropped a terracotta

pot and is now crying hysterically. A shadow looms over May
who is looking at the old lady. She looks up, Mother is
glaring down at her, engulfed in haze. May looks closely.
Mother doesn’t seem to be angry. Her nose is red and tears
are coming out of her eyes, hidden underneath sunglasses.
May looks to the place where she saw the Fruit Monster,
she’s gone.

11 INT. MOTHER’S ROOM - DAY 11

A glass of water filled to the brim is given to Mother who

seems to be grieving of something we don’t know what of.
Some of the water splashes out. Her once perfect form is
now in disarray. She has mascara melted on her face from
tear stains and messy hair. Mother gulps the water, puts it
at her bedside table next to an eviction notice. On the
bedside table are a bottle of sleeping pills, porno mags, a
stack of cassette tapes about learning english, another
ashtray of dead cigarettes, and more empty boxes. Mother
stares at the ceiling and sings a hymn.
 8.

MOTHER
(MANDARIN)
There is a present, have you
received it? Eyes cannot see, so
how do you know? Life is limited,
time will pass away, if you ignore
it, the opportunity would be gone.

May looks at mother. A baby from the upper floor cries

painfully. Awkward and unsure of what to do.

12 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 12

She walks out of the room and closes the door. Mother starts
wailing.

13 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 13

Seated on the floor eating a banana and watching TV, May

looks at a glass with the plant submerged in water in front
of it. She looks at the watermelon, it rolls towards her.

14 INT. MOTHER’S ROOM - DAY 14

Dressed like an adult, May is pregnant with a watermelon

under her shirt as she stares at herself in the mirror. She
admires herself in the reflection, Mother in the mirror.

MAY
(GIBBERISH)
Hi wow how are you, how many
months old are you? Oh no, I am 1
year old. The baby will come
soon.

May looks at Mum who is sleeping soundly and traces her

belly on the mirror. May looks at Mother sleeping. She
climbs onto her bed and looks at her. Upstairs, she hears
her neighbour talking to her baby.

NEIGHBOUR
Hello, hello! Peek a booo. Peek a
boo. I see you…

The baby giggles. May balances a cassette tape, ‘Hour of

The Flower’ on Mother’s belly and an unlit cigarette
upright. She places her 20 cent coin on her belly button
and eyes. She looks over at a bottle of sleeping pills
scattered on the bedside table. She checks to see if Mother
is breathing. It’s hard to tell. She pokes Mother to wake
her but Mother doesn’t wake up. May lies down beside Mother
and smells Mother’s fingers. She puts her ear on her belly
to listen and turns her head to talk to the belly.
 9.

MAY
(GIBBERISH)
Hello. How are you? Hello baby.
Are you cold?

She puts a blanket over Mother’s belly and takes a

cigarette pack and a lighter beside Mother. She lights it,
takes a puff, and gives it to Mother, but she doesnt
respond. A gust of wind blows through the window. May
clutches her belly uncomfortably again and breathes in and
out. The sound of a ball from the upper floor drops and
rolls out into the living room. The sound of May taking the
keys.

15 EXT. FLAT - DAY 15

May takes the piggy bank and opens the gate with red paint
splashed on it.

THE VOICE (O.S.)

(ENGLISH)
Be grateful little one,
for you have escaped
through the cracks.

May runs down the staircase and stops in her tracks as she
meets the same old lady who is playing the poetry recital
through her player. The lady glares at May intensely.

THE VOICE (O.S.)

when you were grinding your teeth
And collecting the scabs
Passed on to you from your
ancestors.
And those currently alive.

May stares back blankly. The woman’s gaze shifts to a

porcelain pot of pink bougainvillea. May stares at the pot
and back to the lady. She continues to run down the stairs.
The girl in the JC uniform is slumped in a corner with her
face turned away.

16 EXT. BELOW FLAT - DAY 16

May stares at confetti being thrown out. A cigarette bud

drops from the sky. Walking under confetti, May squints up
from where it came from the grubby units in contrast to the
blue sky. May looks at the foreign worker mowing grass at a
distance, he stares at her. She holds up an invisible
viewmaster and clicks. The monotony of the hum almost
placing her in a trance. The confetti stops. Toys are
littered on the ground nearby below another unit. A cat
lies in the sun, she stares at it, like magic, it moves
away. She looks around her, a lazy afternoon.
 10.

She looks at her 20 cent coin, how shiny. A GIRL in JC

uniform looks out of the corridor and stares at her. Out of
nowhere, a brassiere falls onto her face. She spots the
porcelain pot of Bougainvillea from above.

THE VOICE (O.S.)

Be grateful little one
For you have survived
Even though just barely
Through gnashing of teeth
Bloody and broken

She stares at it for too long, the pot begins to move, some
dead leaves cascade down. May looks at the sun. A round
shadow covers her eyes. The Old woman wearing sunglasses
places two 20 cent coins on her eyes. A gust of wind parts
her hair as a round shadow covers her, getting bigger and
bigger. May screams in pain.

17 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 17

The moon, which turns out to be a giant watermelon, slowly

blocks the sun in a solar eclipse. It plays on the
television.

18 INT. MOTHER’S ROOM - DAY 18

May finds herself teleported back to Mother’s room. The

cassette tape plays in a player on a table beside Mother's
sleeping pills. The cassette player spins and spins, like a
blackhole.

THE VOICE (O.S.)

Crawled out of the hole
Of injustice and spite.
Lick your sore wounds
Bathe in the spring
For it is your reward,
And the mercy of nature

Light in the room gets darker and darker, the glow in the
dark stars start to appear in the room. In a distance an
ambulance howls and a dog barks. Fire is ignited with a
match. May lights up all the cigarettes in one hand. It
burns brightly in the dim room.

INT. SPACE - THE VOID

The melon parts from the sun.

19 INT. MOTHER’S ROOM - DAY 19

Sunlight once again floods through the windows. In the dim

bedroom, a tiny pool of blood forms at the base of May’s
heel. She looks down her leg as blood trickles down.
 11.

She pulls down her pants and sees her panties soaked with
blood. Something heavy falls past the window.

THE VOICE (O.S.)

You see
It’s the hour of the flower
Here to take you
Be grateful little one

May looks down the window. The JC kid’s uniformed stained

in blood. May looks at Mother.

THE VOICE (O.S.) (CONT’D)

Even though you had no right to
choose
The sins of your father and
mother
Bare down
Like a weight

She sleeps next to her mother on a bed of dandelions and

soil. She hugs her as blood soaks into the dirt. The white
heads of the dandelions stained red.

THE VOICE (O.S.) (CONT’D)

Be grateful little one
All dandelions have to wait.

A rumble like an earthquake is heard in a distance. As the

roar of a plane passes by, the cigarettes have fallen down
and lost its light. On the bedside table, the pills,
trinkets and loose change lay still. May holds onto the
belly of her mother. A heavy gust of wind awakes, all at
once the bed of dandelions now stir up like a snowstorm,
the room now floating with it’s seeds.

20 INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY 20

The seeds gently float into the living room, as another

heavy gust of wind agitates it. It starts to rain.

21 EXT. FLAT (GROUND FLOOR) - DAY 21

A split open watermelon lay on the floor as the rain pours,

it's juices flow out like blood from a gaping wound. A dog
stops to lick it. The sound of mowing the grass is heard in
a distance.

INT. MOTHER’S ROOM - Day

May looks at Mother sleeping peacefully, she burrows her face

with hers. The mowing gets louder and louder as a turbulent
gust of wind stirs up, like a plane taking off. A baby cries
in a distance, a voice, MOTHER#2 somewhere is heard hushing
her baby.
 12.

The sun shines on both Mother and May. May takes a peek,
her hair now white like a dandelion. MOTHER#2 sings a
lullaby, her voice is more audible.

MOTHER #2 (O.S.)
(WHISPER/ENGLISH)
Beautiful Dreamer, wake unto me,
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting
for thee;
Sounds of the rude world heard in
the day,
Lull'd by the moonlight have all
passed away!

She squints and closes her eyes as it gets brighter and

brighter and brighter. Cut to red blood cells + Credits.

MOTHER #2 (O.S) (CONT’D)

(WHISPER/DREAMER)
Beautiful dreamer, queen of my
song,
List while I woo thee with soft
melody;
Gone are the cares of life's busy
throng
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea,
Mermaids are chanting the wild
Lorelei; Over the stream let vapors
are borne,
Waiting to fade at the bright
coming morn.

Beautiful dreamer, beam on my

heart,
E'en as the morn on the stream let
and sea;
Then will all clouds of sorrow
depart,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

End.