Suki's eyes opened.
The sun was a warm stripe on her blanket.
But something was wrong.
The room was quiet. Too quiet.
Every morning, a little bird sat on the branch outside her window.
Every morning, it sang the same song.
A hello song.
A wake-up song.
Tweet-a-lee-dee!
Suki listened. She held her breath.
She heard the sleepy tick-tock of her clock.
She heard the quiet hummm of the house.
But she did not hear the tweet-a-lee-dee.
Her tummy felt wobbly, like a jelly sandwich with no bread.
The sound was missing.
Suki slid out of bed. Her feet made no noise on the soft rug.
Where would a sound hide?
She peeked under her bed.
Only a fluffy dust bunny and one red sock. No sound there.
She tiptoed to her toy box and lifted the heavy lid. Creeeak.
Blocks and bears tumbled together.
She picked up her teddy. "Is the sound in here?" she whispered.
The teddy said nothing.
She shook a yellow block next to her ear. Clack-clack-clack.
A good sound. But not the right sound.
The quiet followed her down the stairs.
In the kitchen, Mama was flipping pancakes.
Sssssss, went the batter on the hot pan.
Clink, clank, went Mama's fork.
Glug, glug, glug, went the syrup from the bottle.
So many good, warm kitchen sounds.
But no tweet-a-lee-dee.
Mama saw Suki's wobbly lip. "What is it, my little sparrow?"
"The sound is gone," Suki said. "My wake-up sound."
Mama knelt down. She smoothed Suki's hair.
"Maybe," she said softly, "the sound isn't lost. Maybe it's just waiting."
Mama pointed to the back door.
Suki put on her shiny red boots. Ka-thunk. Ka-thunk.
She pushed the door open.
The garden was big and green.
A little breeze whispered shhhh-shhhh in the tall grass.
A fuzzy bee buzzed bzzzzz around a bright pink flower.
But something was still missing.
Suki looked up at the big oak tree.
On one branch hung a little wooden feeder. A tiny plate for bird snacks.
The plate was empty.
Mama came out with a small tin cup. It was full of tiny, speckled seeds.
She helped Suki open the little lid on top of the feeder.
Suki held the cup with two hands.
She tipped it carefully.
Pitter-patter-plink!
The seeds tumbled out. They filled the little plate.
Some seeds missed. They sprinkled onto Suki's red boots like rain.
Suki looked at her speckled feet and giggled.
Then she sat on the back step to wait.
She wiggled her toes.
She watched a fat caterpillar inch along a leaf.
The garden was still quiet.
And then—a flutter.
A flash of brown. A speck of red.
A little bird landed right on the feeder.
It dipped its head. Peck, peck, peck.
Suki sat very, very still.
The little bird lifted its head. It opened its tiny beak.
Tweet-a-lee-dee!
The sound was back!
It was bright and clear and happy.
It filled the garden. It filled Suki's ears. It filled the whole morning.
The wobbly feeling in her tummy flew away.
Suki smiled, and her smile was as wide as the sky.
