The Humming Letter

Outside the nursery window, the wind went whoo, whoo. It rocked the bare branches slowly to and fro. Inside, everything was warm and very still.

Leo sat at the small round table with his crayons. He was colouring a Christmas tree on thick white paper. The green crayon whispered across the page.

"Swish, swish," said Leo softly to his tree.

Paper chains hung across the ceiling in red and gold loops. A tiny star glowed on the windowsill. The radiator ticked slowly, like someone tapping a sleepy toe.

In the corner, Pip the nursery rabbit dozed inside his hutch. His nose twitched once, then lay still again. His long ears drooped like two soft brown leaves.

The wind went whoo, whoo. But the nursery stayed warm.

Then the door opened with a small, gentle creak. A woman in a green woolly coat crept inside. She carried a cardboard box under one arm.

"Hello, Leo," she whispered. "I am Vera the Vet. I have come to visit Pip."

Leo put his green crayon down on the table. He liked Vera the Vet at once. Her cheeks were pink from the cold wind.

Vera the Vet knelt quietly beside the hutch. She stroked Pip between his long, floppy ears. Pip opened one eye and yawned a tiny yawn.

"He is a fine, sleepy rabbit," said Vera the Vet. "Just right for a windy afternoon."

She set her cardboard box down on Leo's table. Leo looked closely at the side of the box. A dark shape was printed there, with two pointy tops.

"Look, mountains," said Leo. "Two little mountains, side by side."

Vera the Vet smiled and shook her head kindly.

"They do look like mountains," she said. "But this is a letter. It is the letter M."

Leo traced the shape slowly with one finger. Up and down, up and down went his finger. The cardboard felt rough and cool and dry.

"A letter is a mark you can see," said Vera the Vet. "You can see letters on paper. You can see them on the side of a box."

Leo looked at his Christmas tree paper. Then he looked back at the box. The letter M sat there quietly, waiting.

"A letter has a sound, too," said Vera the Vet. "You cannot see a sound. You hear it, and you say it."

Leo pressed his lips together and listened hard. He heard the wind outside the window. He heard Pip breathing softly in the straw.

"The sound of this letter is mmm," said Vera the Vet. "Keep your lips closed, like a little hum."

Leo closed his lips and hummed very gently.

"Mmm," said Leo.

The sound tickled his lips like a bee in a flower. He hummed it again, a little longer this time. It felt warm, like a blanket wrapped round a word.

The wind went whoo, whoo. But the nursery stayed warm.

Vera the Vet opened the box with careful fingers. Inside lay a small bottle of milk. Beside it sat a round blue mug.

"My warm drink for later," said Vera the Vet. "Wind makes me thirsty."

Leo looked at the bottle of milk for a long time. He opened his mouth slowly to say the word. First came the humming on his lips.

"Mmm, milk," said Leo. "Milk starts with mmm!"

Vera the Vet nodded, and her eyes crinkled at the corners. She did not say anything at all. She simply let Leo listen to his own word.

Leo said it once more, very slowly and quietly. "Mmm, milk." The hum was there, right at the beginning.

Next, Leo lifted the round blue mug from the box. It was smooth and heavy in his hands. A little painted snowflake sat on one side.

"This is a cup," said Leo.

"I call it a mug," said Vera the Vet. "It is my very favourite mug."

Leo held the mug close to his chin. He closed his lips, the way he had before. He waited for the hum to come.

"Mmm, mug," said Leo. "Mug starts with mmm too!"

He hummed it again and again, very softly. "Mmm, mug. Mmm, mug." The mug felt warmer each time he said it.

Pip the rabbit lifted his head in the hutch. His nose went wiggle, wiggle, wiggle. Then he tucked it back into the golden straw.

The wind went whoo, whoo. But the nursery stayed warm.

Leo set the blue mug down beside the milk. He wanted to find one more humming word. He looked slowly around the quiet nursery.

He looked at his Christmas tree drawing.

"Tree," said Leo. He listened to his lips. "No hum in tree."

He looked at the little glowing star on the windowsill.

"Star," said Leo. "No hum in star, either."

Leo did not mind one bit. He hummed a quiet tune while he looked. His eyes wandered over the paper chains and the crayons.

Vera the Vet sat down in the small rocking chair. It creaked softly, back and forth, back and forth. She watched Leo and waited without a word.

Leo toddled over to the big nursery window. He pressed his nose against the cool glass. His breath made a small round cloud there.

Outside, the sky was turning soft and grey. Christmas lights twinkled in the houses across the street. The wind pushed the clouds along like sheep.

Then the wind blew harder, whoo, whoo, whoo. The grey clouds slid apart, very slowly. Something pale and round began to peek through.

Leo held his breath and stood very still. He pressed his lips together, ready to hum. The pale round shape glowed a little brighter.

"Vera," whispered Leo. "Come and look at the sky."

Vera the Vet rose slowly from the rocking chair. She tiptoed across the soft rug to the window. Then she knelt down quietly beside Leo.

The clouds drifted further apart, as slow as snails. A round silver shape floated high in the sky. It shone softly over the rooftops and the bare trees.

"There it is," said Vera the Vet. "How lovely and how round."

Leo pressed his lips together once again. He felt the little hum begin inside his mouth. It buzzed gently, like a kitten purring on a lap.

"Mmm, moon," said Leo. "Moon starts with mmm!"

Vera the Vet smiled a slow, warm smile. Her breath made a cloud beside Leo's cloud. Two round clouds sat side by side on the glass.

Leo said it again, very slowly, to the sky. "Mmm, moon." The silver light rested gently on his cheeks.

The wind went whoo, whoo. But the nursery stayed warm.

Leo dashed back to the small round table. He set the bottle of milk at one end. He put the blue mug right beside it.

"Milk, mug and moon," said Leo. "They all start with the same hum."

"Yes," said Vera the Vet. "The letter M sounds the same in milk, mug and moon."

Leo touched the letter on the box once more. Up and down went his finger, very slowly. The two pointy tops felt rough under his fingertip.

Then Leo had a new idea all of his own. He picked up a dark blue crayon. He wanted to draw the letter on his paper.

He chose a quiet spot in the sky above his tree. He pressed the crayon down and began. Up went the line, then down again.

But the crayon slipped and wandered off the path. The letter had only one pointy top. It looked more like a little tent.

"Oh," said Leo. "My mountain lost its friend."

Vera the Vet rocked gently in her creaking chair. She did not take the crayon from his hand. She only waited, as calm as the falling dusk.

Leo looked at the box, then back at his paper. He hummed a tiny tune to keep himself steady. Then he tried once more, very slowly.

Up went the crayon, and down it came. Up again, and down again, all the way. Two pointy tops now stood side by side.

"Look, Vera," said Leo. "Two little mountains, and they are a letter."

He looked at it for a long, quiet moment. Then he closed his lips and hummed. "Mmm," went Leo, soft and warm.

Next to his letter, Leo drew a big round moon. He coloured it pale yellow with slow, gentle circles. The crayon whispered round and round the page.

Pip the rabbit woke and hopped to the front of his hutch. His nose went wiggle, wiggle, wiggle at the glass. Vera the Vet gave him a crunchy piece of carrot.

The wind went whoo, whoo. But the nursery stayed warm.

Vera the Vet poured a little milk into her blue mug. She held it in both hands and sipped. Steam would have been nice, but the milk was cool.

She packed the bottle back into the cardboard box. The letter M faced Leo from the side. He traced it one last time with his finger.

Vera the Vet buttoned up her green woolly coat. She stroked Pip between his floppy ears once more. Then she stepped softly towards the creaking door.

Leo held up his drawing for her to see. The green tree stood tall beneath the yellow moon. Beside the moon sat his own letter, quite still.

"Merry Christmas, Leo," said Vera the Vet, and outside the window the silver moon shone softly over the nursery.