... Odd.

Some of my strangest dreams are had when I doze off randomly at various points during the day. This morning I dozed for a few minutes while my radio was on next to my head, softly playing Christmas songs. When it was playing Bing Crosby's It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (yes, I was lucid enough to know what was playing then), I dreamed that Bing's ghost was sitting in a non-existent rocking chair on our porch at night, rocking as he smoked a pipe and was observed by a stray cat that hangs around. Only in the dream the cat looked like a calico and not a tabby. Oh, and I think he was singing the song that was playing in real-life, too.

Very strange.

This year's Christmas fic is proving a challenge. It's for West Side Story, using A New York Christmas by Matchbox 20 as inspiration.

Call on your angels
Come down to the city
Crowd around the big tree
All you strangers who know me
Bring your compassion
Your understanding
Lord how we need it
On this New York City Christmas

Yeah I'm sending you a Merry New York Christmas
And a prayer for peace on earth
Within our time
Oh, the sidewalk angels echo hallelujah
And we understand them
Now more than ever

So call on your angels
Your beaten and broken
It's time that we mend them
So they don't fade with the season
Let our mercy be the gifts we lay
From Brooklyn to Broadway
And celebrate each and every day
This New York City Christmas

Yeah I'm sending you a Merry New York Christmas
And a prayer for peace on earth
Within our time
Yeah the sidewalk angels echo hallelujah
And we understand them
Now more than ever
Merry New York Christmas

Call on your angels
Come down to the city
Let's crowd around the big tree
All you strangers you know me
Bring your compassion
Bring your forgiveness
Lord how we need it
On this New York City Christmas

Yeah I'm sending you a Merry New York Christmas
And a prayer for peace on earth
It's not too late
Yeah the sidewalk angels echo hallelujah
We understand them
We understand them
Merry Christmas
Yes a New York City Christmas
(Oh Christmas)
Merry New York Christmas

The plot I've got going (thanks to suggestions from ladyamberjo) involves the dead characters on assignment to try to bring a bit of hope to Schrank and Krupke on their Christmas Eve patrol. I have to both think of some discouraging things for them to encounter (which shouldn't be too hard) and some other, quietly hopeful things that begin to cheer them up a bit (infinitely more difficult). Everything has to feel real; I don't want anything that seems sickeningly saccharine or fake-happy or preachy. At the same time, I also don't want things to seem emo.

I've got my work cut out for me. Anyone got ideas?