The silence of the parking lot.

"Waiting is not wasted time - it's the silence in which a person catches up with himself."

There are days when a person does not move forward.

He does not decide, does not win, does not lose.

He just waits.

He sits in a parking lot.

The engine is turned off.

Time passes more slowly than usual.

Three hours.

Then two and a half more.

Others are inside negotiating, making arrangements, fighting.

He stays outside.

But the waiting is not empty.

Just quiet.

He looks at the sky through the car window.

Rain is approaching.

Thoughts come and go.

He does not urge them.

Then a bowl of hot soup.

Steam on his face.

A bite that brings him back to the present.

Afternoon doctor's office.

Mask.

Tight air.

Too many people in one space.

Someone jokes: "as if they were giving something away for free."

But no one gives anything for free.

Everyone brings something.

Fear.

Hope.

Waiting.

At the end of the day, something important happens.

Not in court.

Not at the meeting.

Not in the doctor's office.

But in the public square.

A melon in the basket.

Because there are people you want to bring home joy.

And that's reason enough for the day to still have meaning.

Arnold is sick.

Life for him now is not about momentum, but about perseverance.

But the world is still moving on the internet.

Buying and selling never stops.

Neither does life.

Nothing spectacular happens on days like these.

Something just slowly matures inside you.

That not every day has to be a big story.

Some days just hold you back.

Not every day is a victory.

But every day teaches you something.

And sometimes a melon means more than a successful negotiation.