Each morning, the children would pop out of bed like pop tarts and search frantically for Felf's new hiding place. At first, Felf was easy to spot--on a shelf, sitting on the tv, on top of the computer--but as he spent more time with us, he began to choose much more subtle hiding places. He buried himself into the decorations on the Christmas tree, barely peeking out. He climbed into the light fixture and braced himself edge-to-edge ninja style. It took them awhile to find him that day. But each day, after finding Felf, the kids would sit and chatter away to our little friend. They could talk to him all they wanted, but Santa forbid him from talking to them. Again, it's part of the magic. Well, Felf was awfully tired for 3 nights in a row a week or so before Christmas (aka--*I* was too tired and forgot to move him! eeek!) Owen was very disturbed by this and each day would ask "Mommy, why didn't Felf move? Is he sick?" I answered that I didn't know, secretly reprimanding myself for failing in my mommy duties. On morning #3 of Felf being "too tired" to move, Noelle decided he must be sick. She compassionately talked to him asking, "Felf, are you sick? I'll pray for you tonight, ok? I hope you feel better soon, Felf." Owen began to follow suit and then suddenly remembered "the rules" about Felf. "Felf isn't sick--someone touched him! One of you girls touched him and now he's lost his magic! Who was it?! Which one of you broke the rules?" After surpressing some giggles, I bundled them up and shooed them off to catch the bus.
Upon their return from school, Owen was the first to burst through the door. He ran to the living room only to find that Felf was still sitting in the same spot. He turned to his sisters with absolute conviction "I can't BELIEVE you touched him and ruined his MAGIC!" Megan and Noelle both vehemently deny any ruining of magic. Noelle and Owen sit quietly under Felf and explain how much they hope he gets his magic back and how sorry they are that someone must have touched him.
The next morning held a miracle! Felf MOVED! His magic was back, as well as squeals of joy from my darling children. For the duration of the month of December, Felf shared in many secrets and long, one sided conversations from each of the children. And then... it was Christmas Eve. The kids had opened one present and were having a great time playing. I was watching and noticed Noelle becoming more quiet and somber. (Noelle is NOT a quiet kid. Ever.) So I ask what she's thinking about. She turns sadly to the advent calendar--the place where Felf had decided to perch on this special day--and says "Today is Felf's last day. He's leaving tonight with Santa--that's what the book said. *sigh* I'm gonna miss Felf. *sniffle sniffle* I don't want him to go." Owen suddenly processes the information coming out of Noelle's mouth. His eyes immediately look to Felf's last resting spot and a sad realization settles on him. Megan looks over and then says unphased, "Yeah, but he'll be back next year. It's not like we're never gonna see him again." The other 2 excepted this and all went back to their play.
But... as Megan and Owen trundled off to bed, Noelle snuck in one last, sweet conversation with Felf. A heartfelt and tearful goodbye that ended with "...I wish I could hug you Felf, but I don't want to ruin your magic. I love you. Bye." And with that, the kids went to sleep. Sometime during the night, Santa came to our house. He left presents for each of the kids and helped Felf hop into the sleigh for a quick ride back to the North Pole.
And so ends our tale of Felf, the elf on the shelf. Until next year...
