Petrichor is Serendipitous

A/N: For those of you who are curious enough to look up some of these words, you most likely won't find them in a dictionary or even in an online dictionary (some might be there). You might have to google them because a few are actually not English (for example, hoppipolla is Icelandic) and therefore aren't in the English dictionary. Enjoy!

"Petrichor is serendipitous," the girl with tangled blond hair said as she swung her rain boot enclosed feet back and forth over a puddle. She twirled a rainbow umbrella over her head and smiled at the sky from her perch on the monkey bars.

"Excuse me?" A voice drifted from down below. "What does that mean?"

The girl looked down to find a tall, black haired boy squinting up at her. She laughed and replied, "It means that I love sirimiri and hoppipolla."

"I don't understand anything you're saying," the boy scowled. "Who are you anyway? I've never seen you around."

"My name is Lulu Rogers and you look like a hobbledehoy. What is your name?" Lulu closed her umbrella and shook the water droplets off all over the boy, who jumped back in alarm.

"My name is Chance and I don't appreciate you dumping water all over me," he said angrily.

Lulu swung down from the monkey bars without hesitation. She landed right in the puddle of water that had collected during the recent rainstorm. The mulchy water splashed upwards and landed on Chance's shoes, soaking them through. "Oops," Lulu giggled without much sympathy.

"What's your problem?" Chance asked, shaking out his feet. "You don't make any sense. What is hobbledehoy and mirisiri and all that other nonsense?"

Lulu looked appalled. "Nonsense? Those are actual words. I love words. They can be quite beautiful." She leaned on her umbrella and looked at Chance as one might look at someone who had just uttered a great insult. "Besides, you're the one who's sticking around. You came to me and you aren't leaving. Why did you come?"

Chance was at a loss for words, but quickly recovered. "Well, I saw you sitting on the monkey bars with purple rain boots and a rainbow umbrella. Any normal person should find that strange, especially for a teenager such as yourself."

"Maybe I'm the normal one and all of you are the abnormal liripoops."

Chance gave a snort of laughter. "Liripoop? No way that's a real word!"

"Look it up," Lulu challenged. "You'll find many selcouth words in a dictionary."

"No really," Chance said, seeming much friendlier, "what do they all mean?"

"You tell me," Lulu said. "Come back tomorrow and we'll see how much you understand then."

She skipped off to the opposite side of the playground, once more opening the umbrella as she made her way down the street. Chance watched her go with the slightest hint of a smile on his face. He shook his head, put his hands in his pockets and started to head home.

The following morning, Lulu sat in one of the many rusty swings that hung in the park. Today she wore striped knee socks with light blue Chuck Taylor's that were so dirty that their true color could hardly be seen. On top of this she had a yellow sundress that ended just past the knee. Despite the odd combination, the look suited her.

"Good morning, Lulu," Chance said as he approached.

"I see you brought something," Lulu pointed to a book in Chance's hand.

"A dictionary to translate," Chance said, sitting on the swing next to Lulu. "I know what you said yesterday."

"Do tell," Lulu said, swinging absentmindedly.

"Okay," Chance began. "Petrichor is serendipitous. Petrichor is the smell outside after it rains and serendipitous, or serendipity is to find something good without looking for it. So you thought the smell after it rained yesterday was good even though you weren't looking for it."

Lulu nodded, her eyes shining. "Go on."

"You love sirimiri and hoppipolla. You love a light drizzle and jumping in puddles." Chance laughed. "I found that out the hard way. Hobbledehoy is an awkward teenage boy. Gee, thanks," he rolled his eyes. "Liripoops are silly people. Selcouth is rare or strange. I agree, there are a lot of strange words in a dictionary."

Lulu just stared at Chance. He looked down at his feet self consciously, as if he couldn't believe he had opened up like that to her.

"You know," Lulu said, "you are the first person who seems to want to know what I'm saying. No one else ever bothers." She shook her head sadly. "But this way I know you care."

Chance looked uncomfortable and gave a hesitant smile. "Thanks," he said quietly. "I guess I care. I know what it feels like to not have anyone care," he said bitterly.

Lulu reached out her hand and placed it gently on Chance's. "I assure you that you are not a slubberdegullion no matter what you may think."

"I think I'll have to look up that one."

"No need," Lulu said, "I'll tell you. It means you are not worthless. You have kalon, beauty that is on the inside that perhaps not everyone understands." She paused for a moment to let the words sink in. "I don't know what you're dealing with, but know that if you induratize your heart, you may never love and never heal. When things get tough, know that out there in the world, someone is waiting to love you."

Chance looked at Lulu and said, "I have never been told anything so comforting. Same to you, Lulu. People might not understand your quirkiness, but know that at least I do."

Lulu smiled and withdrew her hand. She began to pump her legs up and down to get the swing moving. Soon she was touching the clouds with her feet and tickling the sky with her hair. Chance joined her in reaching for the sky.