(dad and son, steven, at the top floor of a HDB block)

steven: we're going to watch a movie here??
dad: no, this is better than jacky chan's movies. (heaves out a telescope)
steven: what's that?
dad: this is a telescope. i borrowed it from my friend. it can see very very far away.
steven: (thought "i can't believe my dad is a peeping tom!!!" and ventures haltingly) dad....? are you...a peeping tom??
dad: of course!...noT!! of course NOT.
steven: then what is ---
dad: (hushes him and gestured for him to look into the telescope, which shows a closeup view of the moon's surface)
steven: WOW.....what's that?
dad: it's the moon.
steven: wow..... why are there pimples on the moon?
dad: pimples? (looks into the telescope and laughs) no... those are not pimples. those are... what do you call them. oh. craters. those are craters.
steven: crater? (lifts a doubtful eyebrow) what's a crater?
dad: crater is a hole. (illustrates with his hands) a very very big hole (widens his hands further)
steven: (nods knowingly)

(steven in school. he finally plucks up the courage to approach and talk to sarah, his puppy love)

steven: you..having lunch?
sarah: yeah...
steven: i'm also having lunch.
sarah: where's your food?
steven: oh (flustered) uh. i ate them already.
sarah: oh..
steven: may i...join you?
sarah: i thought you ate already?
steven: uh.. yeah. but i haven't had my dessert.
sarah: what's dessert?
steven: (even more flustered. scrambles in his pockets and came up with two pieces of chewing gum)
sarah: where did you get those!
steven: (offers one to her)
(silence ensues as steven is loss for words)
sarah: so.. what's your favourite subject?
steven: science. you?
sarah: art.
steven: so.. you can draw very well?
sarah: okay...why do you like science?
steven: because my dad tells me about a lot of things about science. one day, he showed me the moon. it's truly beautiful. there's a lot of pimple--oh, craters on the moon.
sarah: what's a crater?
steven: a crater is a hole. a very very big hole.
sarah: oh...
steven: when you look at those craters on the moon..you feel.....(searches for a word) enchanted.
sarah: what's that?
steven: enchanted is when...you see a very beautiful thing...or a beautiful person (look shyly at sarah, who blushes and looks down), and you feel like...your insides...turn to bubbles.
sarah: bubbles?
steven: yeah..bubbles. ..... would you like to see the moon someday?
sarah: i would love to..
steven: or night. since you can only see the moon at night (laughs)
sarah: (laughs) oh yeah..forgot about that...

(dad and son lyin on a picnic map looking up at the stars)

dad: do you hate your mom?
steven: no...but i hate it when she canes me.
dad: she's tired, try to understand.
steven: why does she cane me? does...does she hate me?
dad: (sighs) no son, she doesn't. (looks at the stars) so, why were you fighting?
steven: there's this bully...who tried to hurt me and...and this girl.
dad: is it the same girl you told me about?
steven: yes.
dad: do you like her?
steven: i...i love her.
dad: you love her? (indulgent) how do you know?
steven: because...when i see her, my chocolate ice-cream loses its flavour. sometimes i even forget i'm eating chocolate ice-cream.
dad: (scoffs) ok. how much do you love her?
steven: i...(looks at the stars, and the moon) i love her more than chocolate ice-cream. (frowns) no. i love her more than beancurd. (frowns deeper) no. i love her more than...AHhh. i give up. (looks at dad) how do you measure love?
dad: (ponders) well. i guess love is measured by...the size of the hole it leaves behind.
steven: what does that mean?
dad: (smiles) you'll understand when you grow up.

(steven goes on to school the next day. he decided to apologize the sarah about the previous day when he stood up for her by fighting a bully. at the same time, he plucked up enough courage to tell her how he feels. upon reaching where she usually has lunch, he couldn't find her. he asked the group of girls there if they knew where she was. one of her friends said that she didn't come to school anymore. driven by intuition, steven knew something was wrong and ran to the school office. sarah's teacher told him that her dad is taking her away. mortified, steven rushes to her house, hoping that he's not too late to save his "princess")

steven: sarah! (she turns and he rushes to her) that's it? you're leaving just like that?
sarah: i have to go...my dad...(looks at the movers and the truck)
steven: will i see you again?
sarah: i don't know... (looks down at her feet)
steven: but why? what's your new address? i'll call you! what's your new phone number?
sarah: (burst out) why do you want to know!
steven: because i -- (tongue-tied) because i haven't shown you the moon.
(sarah looks at steven with a thousand unspoken words in eyes that were swimming with unshed tears, and gave him a peck on the cheek)
sarah's dad: WHO ARE YOU!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?! (grabs sarah viciously) LET'S GO!
steven: i know what you did to her!
sarah's dad: YOU LITTLE BASTARD........ (advances menacingly)
steven's dad: (stops steven from beating the bugger up) no, no. what's the problem?
sarah's dad: YOUR SON IS HARRASSING MY DAUGHTER! (grabs sarah and goes)

(the truck is slammed shut, taking sarah away. driven by impulse, steven runs alongside the truck)

narrator (steven): i finally understood what my dad meant. how is love measured? love is measured, by the size of the hole it leaves behind.. and sarah left.. a crater in my heart.

if you watched blueprints just now on channel5, this is the show they were showing. it's called princess moon. really sweet piece of work. kudos to the playwright! i love the motif of the moon and crater and how it links the whole plot about innocent first love together so subtly. not trying to promote the next screening of blueprints but this was really good. the first episode they showed was terribly cliched and kinda clumsy in execution, and the next episode didn't look very promising. haha. :)