For some people, listening to leaves fall isn't peaceful. It's scary and stressful because it's quiet. The silence is violent, especially within a crowd. As soon as silence hits, it's awkward, and it leaves one alone with thoughts, insecurities and curiosities of what others are thinking. Sometimes though, that's not the case. Sometimes, silence between people is pure gold.
It's 1 a.m., and I'm still awake. I'm sitting with a good friend and former college roommate in the basement of the house we're staying in. The lights are still on, but the television is off. There's conversation, but there's also silence. The conversation varies. Sometimes, faith comes up or memories of the past, and other times it's discussion about who has the ugliest looking feet. The silence though, is special. It's one of those silences that you don't feel any pressure to break because the silence is all that needs to be said; it's completely comfortable.
It takes a special kind of friendship/relationship to get those special kinds of silences. You may have noticed this, but any time you're in a circumstance in which you find yourself meeting someone new and having to make small-talk for a long period of time, silence is the enemy. If there's silence, it's awkward. However, that's not the case tonight. The silence is chill, calm and comfortable.
Sometimes nothing needs to be said. You can just sit there in the company of someone you care about, and that in itself is enough, which is a strange concept. It's like each one of you knows what the other person is thinking, so the thoughts just take over, like telepathy.
I'm not saying that I have the gift of telepathy or anything, but I think I definitely have the gift of a good friendship.
-Cliff
Cliff's Note: The best friendships are the one's in which silence is the third wheel.