Christmas Eve goodbye letter

Dear family,

This is my last morning with you. I have been folding the kind things into a small report: the door held open, the toy handed back, the story you finished when you were tired. I am taking those notes north. I am leaving the cookies. Those belong on your Santa plate.

Thank you for the ordinary days. They were the ones I will remember. Cereal. Socks. The joke that made somebody snort.

When you wake on Christmas morning, I will already be gone. An empty spot is how you will know I left on time. I would like to come back next December, if you will have me. Until then, be the same people I already met.

A grown-up can put me in a bin after you have read this. I do not need a parade. I need you to have Christmas.

Love,
[Elf name]