The little jaybird hopped once and fluttered out of my hands. I stood up to watch it fly away and grinned when it chirped back at me over its shoulder. I had rescued the half-frozen little thing from the snow yesterday, and fed it and kept it warm until it got restless and flew itself into the kitchen window. Once the bird was out of sight, I stumped back inside and made myself a cup of hot chocolate. Mom was at work, and I was "sort of" sick, so I got to stay home from school. Tomorrow would be Winter Break, so I basically had had an extra two days off school.