Happy Heart Panic <RECOMMENDED · REVIEW>

A jogger passed, saw her white-knuckled grin, and jogged faster.

The flamenco softened into a waltz. The cliff edge became solid ground. And the joy, once so sharp it hurt, settled into a warm, humming glow in her stomach. Happy Heart Panic

Her heartbeat didn’t race with fear. It raced with a terrifying, unfamiliar joy. It was a flamenco dance in her chest—too loud, too fast, too happy to be safe. Her palms were sweaty, not from dread, but from the sheer pressure of goodness . A jogger passed, saw her white-knuckled grin, and

She’d spent so many years building a sturdy shelter against bad news—walls of contingency plans, roofs of low expectations. She knew how to handle a crisis. A panic attack over a deadline? Manageable. A spiral over a fight? Routine. But this? A panic attack because the world was smiling at her? And the joy, once so sharp it hurt,