Hey, gang, help me out. We have a Christmas package to deliver this year that is a little sensitive-- the family is worried that we have done too much for them this year, but then someone ELSE came along and offered a Christas pacakge, and no on else needed one!!!! So I said we'd direct it to this family. Here is the letter I drafted to go with its anonymous delivery-- complicated by the fact they they WILL figure out we had something to do with it because we have to babysit for them while getting them out of the house to deliver it!

The following appears under a clipart of Santa's Workshop.... (names are deleted here in case they join Mudcat!) What do you think?

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Santa's Workshop r The North Pole

December 23, 2001

Dear Mr. V,

Santa Claus is gonna get real mad at me if you tell him what I did!

Some of the elves were talking the other day, while Santa was off on his lunch break. They were saying that you probably wouldn't get a chance to do much Christmas shopping this year, with the new baby in the house and all.... you named him xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, right? Well, anyway, they said you didn't believe in Santa Claus any more either, so you probably wouldn't see any presents if Santa left them for you--- you like to be Santa yourself.

Well anyway! The elves didn't know WHAT to do! And I got tired of hearing them go around and around about it! So I got a coupla things for you to give your family! I snuck 'em out of stock, while the elves were cleaning up reindeer poop! Hah hahhh! I may only be an apprentice but I wasn't born yesterday! They didn't see a thing!

Anyway there are some gift tags in this package so you can put down that the presents are from you. I hope that's OK. I tried hard to get good things—I hope everyone likes them!--- but I couldn't steal the sleigh to take you to WalMart's myself! (There is only so much an apprentice can get away with!)

Remember, now, not a word about this to ANYONE! Santa's spies are everywhere, and he gets REAL MAD when we don't ask him for permission!

~An Apprentice Elf