A/N: So, if you happen to be reading this...you're a fan of the book Hummingbird, obviously. I happen to love this book, it is one of my favorites. So if you read this, understand it, know the characters, I LOVE YOU!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hummingbird or any of the characters within.

"Just look there-he's come back-all dandied up with a red band at his throat and a thousand hemidemisemiquavers of light dancing on his green silken coat."

- Grenna, Hummingbird

It's been year since Grenna died. Well, not a year exactly. It's been less. Ten months. Still, ten months is a lot. Especially when you're trying to learn how to live without someone who was like a mother to you. It's hard, I can tell you.

Ten months. Enough time for more watermelon seeds to grow, enough time to have another Watermelon Festival. Enough to find everything needed for a decoupage booth. Enough to find out where you stand with a certain cute, chocolate-eyed boy. Not enough to dig to China, as it turns out. Nor is it enough time to move past Grenna. I don't think I should. Neither Kevin or Daddy wants to.

Over the summer, I finally saw Zipp again. He wasn't there for a whole long time. I just saw a flicker, followed fast by the recognizable colors of Nandina and Shout. I guess they were playin'.

I miss Grenna. I miss her so much, and seeing Zipp again for the first time since she died certainly didn't help. I guess I certainly did take some things for granite, just like Grenna used to say.

But it's Christmas again. The last Christmas we had, Grenna was here with us. I'd given her a snail I'd made with little round stones and a lot of glue. She'd loved the darn thing, even kept it on the windowsill by her bed. Kevin had given us all shirts tie-dyed like watermelons. We'd worn them for Christmas dinner.

Daddy yelled for me from outside, and I figured that we were gonna bring in a Christmas tree for this year. Last year, we'd left it outside because it was Zipp's home. And every time I went outside, the poor thing would dive bomb me. I don't appreciate little hummingbird beaks going after my nose.

I ran down the stairs and banged the door open as I went. I joined Daddy, who was standing by a smaller pine tree looking up. "No resident hummingbirds?" I asked, rubbing my hands over my arms. I may have been wearing I coat, but it was still cold. My hot breath appeared clouded in the cold air.

Daddy shook his head. "Doesn't look like it. Where's your brother gone to?"

I looked around, then shook my head. "I don't know."

"HERE!" Kevin called, running towards us from around the house at full tilt. He must have been in the silver Dreamliner in the backyard, which would explain why he was a little late.

Daddy picked up his axe and swung at the tree's thick trunk, and Kevin slowed to a stop beside me. Daddy had told us long ago never to come near him when he's chopping. That lesson has always stuck in our heads. That, and we watched a lot of horror movies.

As Daddy chopped, a bright green glimmer caught my eye. I turned, and on the bird feeder not far from where I stood, was Zipp. I pointed him out to Kevin, and he smiled softly. As we watched, Zipp rose from his position on the hummingbird feeder and flew away, going west. I wondered if he'd waited to leave until Kevin and I saw him.

"Now that's grace," Kevin murmured.

"What?" I asked, smiling. "Zipp?"

"Christmas," Kevin answered.

"This hemidemisemiquavering world."

"Grenna."

"And a hummingbird in winter."

A/N: Wow, I really hope I did this book justice, because it really feels like I didn't.

Tell me what you thought!

For those of you who don't remember-

Hemidemisemiquaver - A sixty-fourth note. The smallest unit of musical time. Chiefly British.

Thanks for reading!

BYE ;3