It was a week before Christmas when I heard a knock on the door. I went to answer, but seeing no one through the peephole, I went back to my chair. A minute later, I heard another, more insistent, rap. This time I opened the door and looked out. I was about to shut the door again when I heard a loud “Hello! Hello!” and, looking down, saw a small man with pointed ears and a long green cap.
An elf!“Are you Line?” the little man asked expectantly. He seemed about to burst with excitement.“Yes,” I said, a bit uncertainly, not sure why there was an overly enthusiastic elf on my doorstep who knew my name. “Great!” he yelled, pushed me aside and going inside. He looked around with apparent awe.“Wow, this is the first time I’ve been out of the North Pole,” he said, still looking around.
“I’m here on a mission for Santa Claus,” the little man said, puffing out his chest ever so slightly as he whipped out a notepad and climbed up on the sofa. “His computer hard drive crashed and he lost his Naughty and Nice list.” The elf seemed simply delighted by this tragedy. “So I’m here on a mission to determine whether you’ve been Naughty or Nice.” “So what have you done this year to deserve to be on the Nice list?” he asked, his pen posed above the notepad expectantly.
“I, uh, I’m not sure,” I said, uncertain as to what deeds Santa would find worthy to be on his good list. The little man smiled broadly. “Well, just tell me about everything you did this year and I’ll write it all down.” He whipped out his pen and looked at me expectantly. “This is going to be so much fun!” he exclaimed. “Tell me everything!”
“Well the highlight of my year was when I lived in Seattle for two months over the summer, for work... It was great to see so many new things and make so many new friends. I really felt like it lifted my spirit after a not so fun start of the year”
“Uh huh,” the little elf said, scribbling in his pad. “Wow. That's cool. What else happened to you this year?”“I started dancing, an old fashion type of dance. The likes one sees in Jane Austen movies. Called Contra Dancing…. That was fun!”
He was nodding his head and writing furiously. “Go on, go on,” he said. “This is great. I’m so glad Santa’s computer crashed. I never get to meet new people and find out about their lives like this. Tell me more.”
"I have been helping a friend launch her greeting card business, and it's great because I get to use my language skills. It might turn out to be a great business venture as well as a fun hobby. And I helped another friend sew totes. That we then sell. And I added some new families to the list of kids I watch ”
"Thank you so much!” he said when I had finished telling him about the year. Then he closed the notepad and jumped off the couch. “Gotta run. I’ve got 500 more people to interview. This has been great. Well, we’ll be in touch,” he said, turning toward the front door and heading toward it.
“But wait!” I said, jumping in front of him. “Which list am I on?”The elf smiled and looked at me as if I were daft. “Only Santa can decide that, silly,” he said. “You just have to do your best and then see what happens.” And with that, he pulled open the door, whistled loudly and jumped on the back of a lone majestic reindeer that seemed to appear out of nowhere. “Be nice!” he yelled as he flew off into the dark winter sky, becoming a small speck as they lifted higher and then disappearing completely into the night.
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