This is a story that I developed from a dream. The story is set in New York City on a cloudy and cold night in December where it just recently stopped raining and in a suburban neighborhood in some nearby mountains that will look like the Pacific Northwest even though that doesn’t make sense. The story isn’t set in a specific year but it is set in a time before everyone had cell phones. I think it has all the elements necessary for a good Christmas story. Rather than present the story in a traditional format, let’s do something a little more creative. Imagine this is a short film that will be aired before a feature-length film that opens on Christmas Day. You and I, dear reader, are sitting at a coffee shop and I am describing my ideas for the film to you. Here is the story.
The scene opens in a nice hotel room with a family of five. There are two parents, two daughters, and a son. The family is running around in a frenzy trying to pack their suitcases. The family is on vacation, and this is their last day in the hotel before they drive to the mountains to celebrate Christmas at their cabin. The chaotic nature of their packing should be reminiscent of the opening scene from the movie Home Alone.
The camera follows the family as they leave the hotel room. The door closes and the camera hangs on the door for a few seconds before it slowly pans over to focus on a black overcoat hanging from the chair. Sticking out of the pocket is a narrow box wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper with a tag that reads “For Mom”.
The scene shifts to downstairs in front of the hotel where the family is gathered on the sidewalk with their luggage and gift bags. Two valets wearing elf hats are standing with them. A third valet brings up their car and stops a few feet from the curb. The dad and the two valets with elf hats start packing the luggage and bags into the back of the car while the rest of family settles into the front and back seat. As the family drives away the valets wave to them and make a snarky remark about the hats they are wearing. The two valets on the sidewalk remind me of the two porters that help Jonas into the cab in Sleepless in Seattle when he arrives in New York City.
The scene returns upstairs to the recently vacated hotel room. A group of maids are cleaning the room with the door open. One of them exclaims loudly and they start talking animatedly. They call over the elevator operator, who is a kindly old man wearing a red handknitted sweater. They tell him someone left a coat behind and that there is a Christmas present in the coat pocket. It must belong to the youngest son in the family that just left.
The scene is now the front desk in the lobby of the hotel. A group of maids and valets emerge from the elevator led by the elevator operator. They are talking excitedly amongst themselves and causing a commotion which causes the guests downstairs to all turn to see what is going on. The lobby is ornate with red and gold decorations and there is a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The hotel manager takes the coat from the elevator operator, looks it over, and then gets a determined look on his face. He meets the eye of the elevator operator, who nods, laughs heartily, and twinkles his eyes at him. The manager turns to the group and tells them that they must return the coat to the boy, and it has to be tonight so he will have the gift in time for Christmas Eve tomorrow. He tells them he has an idea. The group murmurs amongst themselves. They follow the manager over to the front desk where he picks up the receiver on an old telephone. As he does this the camera slowly rises to up to the ceiling and catches itself in the beautiful chandelier. In the gold ceiling tiles the audience can see the reflection of a decorated Christmas tree.
A title card shows announcing that five minutes have passed. The hotel manager hangs up the phone, and everyone starts smiling and cheering and nodding to each other. We hear shouting and the camera pans to the two valets in elf hats. They shout “they’re here! They’re here!” The group at the front desk marches outside together with the coat that is now neatly wrapped in a box with red wrapping paper and tied with a red silk ribbon.
Out front is a car idling with two men wearing business suits. Both are wearing decorative antlers on their heads, and it looks like they just came from their office Christmas party. In the backseat is their friend who is wearing a garland of Christmas lights around his neck. He is leaning forward into the front seat with a big grin on his face and he is slapping his friends’ shoulders. The hotel manager hands the present to the man in the passenger seat and asks him if he is ready. The man replies in the affirmative and they speed off into the night. The group standing outside in front of the hotel cheers. They are joined by some local shop owners and bystanders and the guests inside the lobby. Everyone is excited to watch the festivities unfold.
As the three men drive, we are treated to some scenes of New York City at night. We see buildings lit up and Christmas lights and people building snowmen in Central Park and we see the tree at Rockefeller Center. The camera alternates between the cityscape and the men in the car. We hear an upbeat Christmas song playing on their radio.
They arrive at some docks on the waterfront where there is a small ferry boat idling. The ferry boat is decorated with trim and Christmas lights and is filled with a group of people who paid to tour the river at night. Everyone is bundled up in big coats, gloves, and scarves. A man from the boat is standing on the dock watching for the car. The car pulls up and the man with the Christmas lights garland leaps out of the backseat with the present. He runs down to the waiting man who takes it and boards the boat. The boat pushes off from the dock and starts puttering away. Everyone on the top deck waves and cheers. The other men have gotten out of the car and are high fiving each other and waving back to the boat.
We are now treated to some scenes of New York and New Jersey at night from the waterfront. There are some occasional cutaways to the family from the hotel driving to their destination. They are listening to the same upbeat Christmas song on the radio. The windows are a little fogged up from the cold air outside. We see the boat making its way across the river and all the crew members have determined looks on their faces.
The ferry boat gets to the New Jersey side and one of the men on the boat throws his line to a man and a woman standing on the dock. The man catches it and ties the rope to a nearby post. He and his wife are wearing handknitted sweaters with a reindeer on the front. The reindeer’s nose has a red bulb that is lit up. His wife cheerfully greets the man on the boat and tells him they made great time. The man from the boat hands her the package and the group on the top deck waves and shouts “good luck!”. The woman kisses her husband on the cheek and walks to a station wagon that is idling nearby. The car is filled with kids in costumes, and they are all yelling and shouting from the backseat. They are coming back from the school Christmas play. As she drives away, her husband climbs aboard the boat and one of the crew members passes him a mug and a Thermos of coffee. We see the steam rising from their mugs as they all smile at each other.
The camera shifts to a drive-in restaurant where a bunch of teenagers are standing outside waiting beside their cars. They are huddled up in their winter coats and drinking hot chocolate. One of the kids is looking at the road. He glances down at his watch to check the time. He tells his friends that his mom should be here any minute. Neon lights from the drive-in contrasting with the starless night sky. The viewer should think of Mel’s Drive-In or Andy’s Frozen Custard at night. The station wagon comes into view and pulls up next to the group of cars. The kid runs over to his mom, and she hands him the present. She kisses his cheek and the kids in the back cheer and wave hello. The oldest kid waves to his siblings and their friends in the backseat and then runs to his car where his friends are waiting. They drive out of the parking lot. The kids in the station wagon get out of the car and shout “ice cream! ice cream!” as they run inside the drive-in. The mom waves to her son and his friends as they disappear down the road.
The kids are driving on a two-lane road in a suburban neighborhood. There are pine trees everywhere. They drive by houses on quiet streets decorated with Christmas lights with kids in the yard making snowmen.
The kids drive up to a roadside diner that looks a little like the diner from Twin Peaks. They slowly pull into the parking lot. The passenger asks the oldest son how they will recognize the man they are looking for. The oldest son says that they can’t miss him. The man will be standing next to a sleigh by a big tree and will be wearing a red sweater. They spot him in a clearing next to the diner. Behind the man is a sprawling meadow covered in snow with large trees in the background. The man is busy tinkering with some Christmas lights at the base of the tree. He looks up and waves to the kids as they drive up. They hand him the present. He tells them to leave it to him. He walks over to the sleigh and pats one of his reindeer. He climbs in and grabs the reins made of red silk. He takes off into the snow-covered meadow. The large tree he was working under lights up with Christmas lights as he fades from view. The kids all look up in surprise.
The scene shifts to the cabin where the family from the hotel has just finished dinner. The son is sitting in a chair and is looking forlornly out the window. His mom tells him not to worry and reassures him that his coat will turn up somewhere. She then tells him to help his sisters clean up the table from dinner. He reluctantly gets up from the chair and as he does, the room is filled with the sounds of sleigh bells getting louder and louder. The family look at each other in surprise. The camera pans to the sleigh outside and we see the family walk out to the front porch. The man in the red sweater holds up the present and calls out to the family, “did anyone leave a coat at the hotel?” The son runs forward as the man in the red sweater gets out of the sleigh. He laughs heartily and hands the present to the boy. The boy is happy and smiling and he runs to his sisters to show them the present. The dad asks the man if he has time to come inside. They were about to have dessert and hot chocolate and decorate the Christmas tree. Inside the boy unwraps his present and takes his coat in his arms. Him and his sisters take the small package from the coat pocket and set it under the Christmas tree. They sneak a look with each other and look over at the man in the red sweater who twinkles his eyes at them.
The camera slowly zooms out to show everyone sitting in the living room eating dessert. Outside the yard is decorated with snowmen and there are lights and decorations in the yard. The reindeer are eating oats from bags made of red silk. One of the reindeer’s noses is glowing red.
Back at the hotel, the group from earlier is gathered around the front desk. One of the valets asks the group if they think the plan worked. We hear the ding of the elevator, and the camera looks over at the elevator in the distance. We see the doors open, and we hear the elevator operator announce “lobby”. He pokes his head out of the elevator and makes eye contact with the group and smiles. The hotel manager laughs heartily and says “yes, I believe it worked!” The hotel manager looks over at his dad in the elevator. His dad’s eyes twinkle. He calls over to his son “welcome to the job, son!” and the door closes. The group cheers and celebrates and walks over to the Christmas tree that is standing by the window. The hotel manager pulls a pair of red silk gloves from his pocket and puts them on and goes to stand by the roaring fire burning in the fireplace at the end of the lobby. He sits in one of the chairs and pulls out a small notebook. He turns to a page filled with names and the camera settles on three names at the bottom of the page all with the same last name: two girls and a boy. He puts a check mark next to each of them with his fountain pen. He closes his notebook and puts it back in his coat pocket. His eyes twinkle as they settle on the fire.
The camera zooms out from the group and we see the hotel from the sidewalk outside. The windows are decorated with snow decals and we see the group inside standing by the Christmas tree. Snow starts falling. The camera slowly pans over to a small gold plaque next to the revolving door. Below the hotel name there is an inscription written in cursive. It says:
Hotel Manager
Mr. K. Kringle
A Walk Through The City 