A Map to Anyone's Heart

The Filmmaker

scene i

(the man lies down on his bed, a pair of thick-rimmed spectacles perched on his nose, his eyes looking straight to the fan hanging on the ceiling. often he wonders how many people in this world look at the same ceiling every night? what do they wonder about when the lonely nights strike in and there's nobody in the world they could call and talk to? what do they worry about the future? what do they remember in the past? what do they feel about the present, creeping in like ghosts staring back at you? what do they see?)

scene ii

(the man sits on the floor, with printed photographs around him, his hands sifting through the chaos, touching the glossy films which left handprints he secretly hates about. he clenched his jaw and stared at the photographs before him. often he wonders about the people on the photographs he took. where are they now? do the happily married couple on the photograph are still married or already separated? what happened to that student who graduated cum laude, did he already landed the dream job or living his life as a bum? where is that beautiful girl whom he secretly took a shot while she was basking under the fierce Marikina sun? he thinks, quietly and sadly, how beautiful people are on photographs because that's the only place where they will never change.)

scene iii

(the man stands in the middle of the room, his feet rooted on the floor, shaking hands holding the camera, ready to shoot the first indie film he was directing. it was a story about a man who met a woman on a dating app. the script is flawless, the actors topnotch, the budget just right on the money. the man is happy but he refuses to smile and acknowledge this feeling because the only thing he is feeling right now is the fleeting emotion between happy and sad and he doesn't exactly know why. he lets go of his camera, takes his backpack, and runs to the door.)

scene iv

(the man leans on the metal railings on his balcony, smoking his first cigarette after three months of quitting the bad habit, and looks at the moon. he wonders now, a bit out loud and drunk to the idea of a romantic thought, will he ever cover the growing void inside him? he's not himself, not anymore, and some parts of him remained sad. but he wonders again, this time quietly and more at peace, if he can't want and love himself when he's not himself, will he ever be loved for what it's done and what it's lost?)

scene v

(of course you will be loved. in this life, you will meet someone and that someone could be the next person beside you or maybe the woman you swiped right or maybe you already met this person and have not known she is the one because you're too busy thinking of the future that is distant and still not happening. this someone will want you, even if you're not yourself anymore. she will wait on you while you're someone else. believe me, you will find her and she will find you.)

scene vi

(the man found her. and in return, she found him.)