The bass was so loud it made the air wobble. Lights flashed purple, green, then something that might have been existential dread in strobe form. In the middle of the dance floor stood a pigeon.

His name—though nobody asked—was Gregory.

Gregory had arrived at the rave by accident. One moment he was investigating a suspicious french fry outside a train station, the next he had flown through an open warehouse window and into a sea of sweating mammals moving like confused seaweed.

The music went untz untz untz untz.

Gregory bobbed his head. This was familiar. Head bobbing was a core pigeon technology.

But then Gregory had a thought.

A dangerous thought.

“Why am I bobbing?”

He stopped.

The humans around him continued to dance, unaware that a small grey bird was currently experiencing a philosophical collapse near the subwoofer.

Gregory looked at the laser lights cutting through the fog.

What is rhythm? he wondered. Is rhythm real, or is it just repeated chaos we agreed to enjoy?

Someone in glitter sunglasses pointed at him and shouted, “YO THAT BIRD IS VIBING.”

Gregory was not vibing.

Gregory was spiraling.

He hopped onto a speaker. The bass vibrated through his tiny pigeon bones.

I eat bread, he thought. I poop on statues. Is this my legacy? Is this… meaning?

A DJ somewhere yelled into the mic, “EVERYBODY DROP!”

The entire crowd crouched.

Gregory panicked and crouched too.

The beat exploded back.

Everyone jumped.

Gregory accidentally achieved enlightenment.

For three seconds he understood everything: the beat, the universe, breadcrumbs, gravity, the strange human need to shout “WOO” at random intervals.

Then someone threw a glow stick.

Gregory tried to eat it.

Enlightenment ended immediately.

He stared at the glowing plastic tube.

“Perhaps,” Gregory thought, “meaning is not something you find.”

The bass shook the building again.

“Perhaps meaning is something you accidentally step on while looking for fries.”

Gregory nodded wisely.

Then he pooped on the DJ booth and flew away into the night, slightly older, slightly wiser, and still very confused.