Heart Panic | Happy

It was a Tuesday afternoon, and Elara’s heart was trying to escape through her ribs.

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? Happy Heart Panic

Elara closed her eyes. She did the only thing she knew how to do when her body betrayed her. She leaned into it. It was a Tuesday afternoon, and Elara’s heart

Elara should have felt light. Instead, she felt the ground give way. It was a Tuesday afternoon