Little Bird's Adventure

     As Little Bird set out on her adventure to her new home she suddenly found herself plummeting towards the ground at a high velocity. With great equanimity she remembered what her mother had taught her; "Little bird, always flap your wings." After much flapping and gasping little bird found herself on the penumbra of the tree she had started on. She hadn't even managed to get away from home without incident. As she sat on a branch bemoaning her troubles a gentleman flew up next to her. "My what a pulchritude you are," he said.
"A pulchritude," said Little Bird, feeling somewhat offended.
"A beauty," he replied.
     Little bird started to reply when he launched himself off the branch and was gone. 'How rude of him to abridge our conversation like that' thought Little Bird. Shaking her head and with a newfound levity Little Bird launched herself off the branch to continue her adventure. As she flew she thought back to the events leading to her departure; the goodbye parties, being anointed for good luck and saying goodbye to her Mother. Something about the proceedings vexed her.  Despite her best efforts she was unable to mitigate her vexation. Little Bird turned around and returned home only to find her martinet of a sister cleaning out her room. She was turning it into an art studio. 'What a dilettante' thought Little Bird as she left for the second and hopefully last time. Little Bird's mother sighed with relief as she watched Little Bird fly away. She had worried that Little Bird's return would start some type of invective.
     Little Bird was happy to mollify her concerns over leaving and flew quickly along.  Soon she came to a sign saying Libertine Colony. 'What is a libertine?' thought Little Bird as she started off towards the colony. She passed two disinterested gate guards before entering the colony. As she entered the gentleman bird from before came up to her. "What a felicitous occasion to have you here!" he chimed as he rushed over and greeted her with a large embrace. Little Bird began to lament her decision to enter the Libertine Colony; she did not enjoy hugs. He began yammering at her and with the incentive of dinner convinced her to stay the night in the colony.
    The colony was excited to have a new comer. Everyone was full of energy. There wasn't a dispassionate face in the bunch. The more they told her about their lives the more they substantiated Little Bird's idea that it was the right place for her to be and not to be. She was quite mercurial on the matter jumping from staying to going, happy to grumpy. In an attempt not to sully the evening she kept her struggle to herself.

GRE words
Plummet - plunge, fall straight down
Equanimity - composure, evenness of mind, mental stability, especially under stress
Penumbra - outer part of a shadow from an eclipse, any surrounding region, periphery, fringes
Pulchritude - physical beauty
Abridge - reduce, lessen
Levity - lightness or lack of seriousness, sometimes in an inappropriate way
Anoint - rub or sprinkle oil, make sacred
Vex - annoy or bother; puzzle or distress
Mitigate - make less severe, lessen, moderate
Martinet - Person who adheres to rules extremely closely,
Dilettante - A person that takes up art or another activity for amusement in a superficial way
Invective - verbal abuse, insults, violent denunciation
Libertine - morally or sexually unrestrained person, free thinker
Disinterested - impartial, not interested
Felicitous - marked by happiness, admirably appropriate,
Lament - mourn, express greif or sorrow, regret,
Incentive - something that encourages greater action such as a reward
Dispassionate - calm or lacking emotion, not having a selfish or personal motivation
Substantiate - support with evidence or proof
Mercurial - quickly and unpredictably changing moods, fickle
Sully- make dirty, stain, tarnish