Walking down the asphalt path, she felt a quickening.
A pull towards happiness.
A push from wonder.

An intake of breath.
Her eyes opened wider.
Feet moved faster.

Bird song.

So loud their music, all other noise evaporated—
traffic
people
the sound of her anticipation.

She looked to the trees, expecting to see them full of a thousand birds.
But no.
The chorus of joy came from just one tree.
From a few dozen birds—indistinguishable figures against a cottony blue sky.

Now she knows what bliss sounds like.