Title: Bring Us a Dream
Rating: K+
Summary: Or, how a certain midnight meeting inspired the Chordettes to sing "Mr. Sandman".
Warning: Sandman being the most adorable Guardian in existence, shameless references to the other Guardians/Pitch, etc.
Seeing this today for my birthday! But let's have a fic BEFORE I see it, because my feels for this movie are simply too much.*fangirl problems* Inspired by a picture on Tumblr by justm3h, another potential title was, "Oh look, a fic that's NOT about Jack Frost!" Jack, ily, but the other Guardians need love too.
What historical accuracy? The first part is basically a sleepover with almost all the members of the Chordettes (the original members and the ones who sing "Mr. Sandman") save Dorothy Schwartz and Nancy Overton, because I didn't see the point of their inclusion. See the note at the end of the story. Otherwise, look at all the bothers I give~!
Their ages shall also be up to my imagination, because Wikipedia does NOT have their birthdates. *table flip* Just understand that they're basically children, with the eldest being 12 and the youngest 4.
Historical Note: The Chordettes who sang "Mr. Sandman" in 1954 are Margie Needham, Janet Ertel, Lynn Evans, and Carol Buschmann. The original members were Janet, Carol, Dorothy Schwartz, and Jinny Osborn. In 1952 Lynn replaced Dorothy while Margie temporarily replaced Jinny in 1953.
Oh, and if you haven't listened to it yet—do it. Now.
XXX
Wisconsin, 19XX
Childish laughter echoed throughout the house of Virginia "Jinny" Osborn as several pairs of little feet pounded up the stairs, each pair of hands clenching a fleecy blanket as they scaled the spiral staircase. "C'mon Janet, you're lagging behind!"
Janet Ertel puffed out a breath of air. "Can you slow down?" she pleaded, "I am carrying our hot chocolate."
"Nope!" a girl with wavy brass colored hair called down to her. "In return, I'm carrying your blanket." Laughing brightly she continued running up the stairs, ignoring Janet's irritated exclamations.
"Let Lynn be," Jinny instructed, her blond flipped-ends hair swaying as she hitched up her blanket and trudged past the window that framed the smiling moon, "She's only 7."
"Says the girl who is only two years her senior," grumbled Janet. "Has anyone seen Margie?"
"Here," a sweet voice answered, hefting up her blanket as she toddled up the stairs, curly hair bouncing from her efforts.
Carol Buschmann, the eldest of the group at 12 years old, turned around the stairs and lifted the 4 year old into her arms. "Onwards," she mock-sternly told them, "Jinny's room is just up ahead."
The girls burst into the room, a tornado of pastel nightgowns and blankets as they threw them on the spot of their choice and quickly made themselves comfortable. Janet dispensed the hot chocolate while Carol gently placed Margie on her blanket before going over to sit on her own, taking the beverage with quiet thanks.
The large rectangular shaped window in Jinny's room was sprinkled with frost and allowed the girls to see out into the night, looking at the peaceful homes of sleeping children to the moon that looked down at them with a tranquil assurance that all will be well. As Margie absently gazed at the moon while she awaited her hot chocolate, she could see a man's face smiling at her.
Lynn sipped her hot chocolate and frowned, "Hey! I asked for two marshmallows; there's only one!"
"Look at how much I care," sang Janet as she rolled around on her blanket.
Lynn put down her drink and snatched a pillow off Jinny's bed, aiming to throw it at her. Not to be outdone, Janet did the same.
Margie, wary of the starting fight, turned their attention to the moon. "Lookie, the moon has a face!"
As the five girls looked out the glass window, lightly dusted with frost, Lynn snorted, pillow forgotten. "Don't be ridiculous Margie! Everyone knows the moon is actually a rabbit!"
The night passed in a blur of hot chocolate, gossip, and fun. The girls screamed when they saw something lurking by Jinny's closet, but when Janet, deciding that she would not be defeated by a mere closet, threw open the doors, she discovered nothing more than a stuffed horse ("Next time Jinny, try something creepier.") Carol entertained the group by telling stories of fantastical worlds, where beings like mermaids, unicorns and fairies roamed the fields.
"Even the tooth fairy?" Margie asked innocently.
Carol smiled at the girl and nodded, "Yes, even the tooth fairy."
And then, when the hot chocolate was almost finished and the girls had an air of sleepy contentment, a wisp of gold flickered out of the corner of Lynn's eyes. "Hey, did you guys see that?"
"See what?" Margie yawned, showing a gap where a tooth had been.
There! Another stream of gold! "That." Slowly turning around in a circle she surveyed the room. "And it seems to be coming from over…THERE!" The girls jumped on their blankets as the brass haired girl raced to the window and ensconced herself on the window seat.
After about three minutes of absolute silence, Janet hesitantly addressed her. "Uh, Lynn, what is it?"
Speaking in awestruck tones, she beckoned her friends over with a limp hand. "You have to see this."
Intrigued, the girls crept over to the window seat, pulled aside the curtains, and simultaneously gasped.
Rivulets of gold sand splayed out before them, twisting and careening in every direction, some spiraling into twisting tornadoes and hearts while others fluttered about, bending and leaping in every formation known to children. Golden fish swam inside waves of gold, making Margie's eyes widen as one glided past the window.
"Look! Look!" Jinny shouted, pointing excitedly, "There's something there! It looks like a golden cloud!"
They looked up, and indeed beheld a swirling cloud of golden sand turning through the night sky, shooting off streams of gold that raced through the night, whirling and falling and streaming into the houses that lined their street and throughout their neighborhood. And atop that cloud stood—
"At the top!" Janet was jumping in excitement. "It's a man!" She spied a golden being moving across the cloud, sending out the rivers of gold with a motion of an outstretched hand.
Carol, eyes brimming with wonder, reached up her hands and unhinged the window, swinging them out into the waiting night.
Taking it as an invitation, the sand swept into the room, transforming into hopping rabbits, flying fairies, and a beautiful mermaid with long, flowing locks. She hovered in front of Margie, spinning around her in a circle, much to the child's delight. As the room overflowed with the pictures inspired by the imaginations of five young girls, their dream energy attracted the attention of the figure atop the cloud.
The golden cloud swooped down in the sky before their eyes, filling their vision with gold as the being sprang in front of them, still perched on the cloud. He was made of the golden sand that encompassed the night sky, from his pale yellow hands to his bright gilded robe to the vibrant gold of his spiky hair and the warm glow of his golden eyes as he looked at them fondly.
"Who…" Lynn breathed, "…who are you?"
I'm the Sandman, he thought silently, weaving his images to convey his words to the girls, but you may call me Sandy.
Margie clapped her hands and laughed with delight as the mermaid floated around her head. "Do you do this every night?"
Yes, it is my job to look after the dreams of children around the world.
Carol grew intrigued by his answer and then thought of something. "Why, out of all the children in the world, do you come to us?"
His eyes sparkled as the images cavorted around his head. Your dream energy, he pointed at them. The dreams of five believers all together have more power than just one child alone. Even a child, he glanced at her, who is approaching her 13th year.
As she looked at the glowing number 13 above his head, Carol pouted and lifted Margie into her arms as if to shield her from her aging.
Sandy reached out a hand and gently caressed her cheek. Do not fret child, he thought, creating a horse that whispered his words into her ear, as long as you believe, your age matters not.
He spryly jumped back into the center of his cloud and waved at the girls. I must depart dear ones, the sand images said for him, but I will be with you in your dreams. That said he made a spectacular exit, his cloud soaring into the sky and becoming a blur of dreams, running through the night like a shooting star, fading out of sight.
The girls continued staring out the freshly frosted window for hours, transfixed by the sand of dreams as it continued the journey into the hearts of the sleeping children. Janet beamed as her unicorn nuzzled her neck, Lynn watched with shining eyes as a rabbit hopped around her head, Jinny laughed as a fairy flitted about her, Margie giggled with her mermaid, and Carol smiled as a miniature Sandy patted her cheek, unafraid and prepared to be betwixt childhood and adulthood.
Wisconsin, 1954
The atmosphere at Cadence Records rang with glee as Margie Needham burst through the doors of the recording studio, bobbed curly hair bouncing in delight. "I'm here!"
"Margie!" The chorus of voices greeted her before three young women ran up to throw their arms around her. "We're so glad you were available to replace Jinny," Janet Ertel confided, dark brunette hair contrasting with her smiling blue eyes.
"I'm glad I could; is her baby coming along?"
"Oh yes, 7 months along now," Lynn Evans giggled, brassy, short, high-volume hair matching her bubbly personality. "She and her husband are over the moon."
Carol Buschmann's warm brown eyes lit up as she talked, "We think you're going to like this record."
"Do tell," Margie rubbed her hands together after taking off her winter coat, revealing the glittering gold dress they asked her to wear.
The three girls exchanged ecstatic looks. "We need to show you the sheet music."
When she had finished reading it, she sang the melody experimentally, "Bum bum bum BUM bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bUM BUM (bum)…" and then she trailed off as she read the lyrics. "Wow," she breathed, "in this song, we're talking to—"
"Mr. Sandman," the three other women sang in harmony, "bring me a dream…"
"No way!" She glanced down at her dress. "No wonder you told me to wear this!" she yelled at them half-accusingly. "You remember…" she fondly gazed out the frosted window at the snow falling from the sky as she remembered that certain winter midnight.
Carol was lost in her memories of warm golden eyes and a fatherly sandy hand caressing her cheeks. "How could I forget? I wrote it down in my diary when you all crashed on your blankets." She ducked her head. "Whenever I felt low as a teenager, I would turn to that diary entry to renew my hopes and dreams."
The young women stood there in silence. "D'you think it's unusual, for adults to believe in Sandy?"
Janet shrugged, "I know what I saw that night, and I never stopped believing since," she grinned at all of them. "I think that's good enough for me."
"As long as you believe, your age matters not." Carol recited the words of wisdom Sandy had told her all those years ago. They carried more levity than all the beliefs of the philosophers she had studied.
Lynn clapped her hands together, "Come on then! Let's start recording!" She led the way into the recording booth, nodding to the men who stood by the sound boards. "Ready?"
As the young women began their song, a golden glow hazily came into view as Sandy peered through the window glazed with frost, courtesy of the white-haired teenaged boy who had flown by fifteen minutes before.
"Sandman, I'm so alone; don't have nobody to call my own…"
His eyes widened as he drifted closer, almost touching his nose to the frost. They were singing about him! As he scrutinized each of their lovely faces, a light bulb made of sand appeared over his head.
The memory of five young believers swam into his mind, adorned with mermaids, fairies, rabbits, unicorns, and acceptance, as one of the special girls came to terms with her departure from childhood. Where was she? He wondered as he looked at every woman, remembering them as small girls in pastel nightgowns.
There she was; Carol Buschmann, who was grinning as she harmonized with her friends. Sandy took in her shining brown hair, golden dress that matched the others, and those brown eyes that still held the happiness he had seen when she was a child, now without trepidation. Yes, she had grown up just fine.
Satisfied with a job well done, he turned to the sky and flew off into the snow, the words of their song resonating in his head and making a touched smile grace his mouth:
"Mr. Sandman bring me a dreeeeeam…"
XXX
Aaaaaaaand, there you go! Reviews shall receive elf-free cookies from North, snowballs from Jack Frost, eggs from Bunnymund, dreams from Sandy, and flavored dental floss from Tooth. :3