Questions and Quiet

A Bear and a Bird were having a wide-ranging chat while sitting on their favorite log. It was a sunny day. Warm. Breezy. And the two friends were meeting up after briefly running into each other at the laundromat the day before.

"How'd your laundry go?" Seymour, the Bear, asked.

"It was fine. Nothing much to report there" Placido, the Bird, responded.

"What did you do after you did laundry?" Seymour continued.

"Went home and made dinner," Placido answered.

"What did you make for dinner?"

"Rigatoni and red sauce."

"Was it good?"

"Pretty good, not amazing, but definitely above average."

"What's the best thing you ever cooked?"

"I made chilaquiles once and it was really good."

"That sounds really good" Seymour concluded.

"Yeah, it was," Placido confirmed.

The two friends sat together a little longer. Seymour kept waiting to hear a question from Placido about... well anything really. Seymour waited and waited but Placido just sat quietly looking at everything around.

It was a very pretty day. So just taking in the surroundings with a friend felt very enjoyable to Placido. She didn't feel like the experience needed to be augmented with conversation. But she was starting to sense that Seymour wanted to be asked something, to have some conversation, and as a good friend Placido wanted to oblige.

"Um..." Placido stumbled, "Do..."

Seymour's face lit up --

"Thanks for asking! My laundry went okay but I realized that I accidentally left my bright red sock in with my whites so the whole load turned pink! That's crazy, right? So now I don't know what to do about all my pinkish-hued whites but I guess I'm going to have to buy all new whites. It's not the worst thing in the world though but it was still a bummer so I decided to treat myself and get a massive burrito smothered in red sauce from Pancho Villa, which you'll remember from the last time we hung out was probably the best burrito I have ever had in my life and boy did it live up to expectations! I was so excited that it was as good as I remembered because sometimes you go to a restaurant and what you get is a pale comparison of the highs they've achieved before. It's why I'm so impressed that you can achieve such consistency in your home cooking. I was never much of a cook myself but I do have one or two go-to recipes if they are ever needed. It's a really nice day today though, I'm glad we both were able to meet. It's nice to just sit and enjoy a nice day with someone without the pressure of having to talk all the time, don't you think?"

Placido quietly nodded in agreement. The two friends looked out at their surroundings and enjoyed the rest of their time together, in quiet contemplation.