The sun glows on our backs as we settle in on the pier. There's nothing I can imagine wanting to do more than lie down on the wooden bench and doze off, surrounded by the lapping of waves and the warmth of sunlight and fresh sandwiches. The city hums somewhere nearby, just close enough to keep me awake. My friend feels that it's far enough to imagine that the world's all fallen away, able to pretend that this is all there is, but it's all I can hear, a disturbance in the stillness. Construction workers somewhere down the road, vehicles passing by at speeds higher than they ought to go, someone in the parking lot playing harsh music from the speakers of their car.

I don't see the peace of it just yet, but if the world behind us were to fade away into silence, I would be more than content to sit here in the sun and rest.

Pigeons strut across the boards, their iridescent neck feathers shimmering in the sunlight as they coo at one another with blank eyes. I've never heard a pigeon actually make noise before, not really, not in reality. They're as foreign to me as deer to a city slicker, birds only seen on raised sidewalks and bustling squares. They don't seem to notice us walking past, nor do they react to me staring at them.

Maybe this is stillness for them. For her, walking ahead of me, taking in the salt air through her mask and smiling at the lake. Maybe this is their kind of perfect change. To me, it's loud, it's distracting, it's all so disconcertingly real, sitting in the middle of the pier and staring out across the lake.

I don't think I get it yet. But I can wait. I can learn. What is a creator without a willingness to see the world differently? What is an author without another perspective?

I take another bite of my sandwich and lean back against the bench, pulling out my notebook to write down some notes. Maybe in my dreams, when all this is over and done, it'll all go soft and quiet again. Maybe then I can see what she's seeing, the stillness of the perfect moment of change. The beauty of the distant city, the balance between sound and stillness.