“I think I just met the happiest person in the world!” Harper exclaimed as she burst through the café door, her cheeks flushed from the cold. She set her bag down with a dramatic flourish, nearly knocking over the small vase of flowers on the table.

Oliver looked up from his laptop, adjusting his glasses. “Bold claim,” he said, smirking. “What makes you say that?”

Harper plopped into the chair across from him, her scarf unraveling as she leaned forward. “Okay, so I was at the park, right? And there’s this old guy—maybe seventy, maybe a hundred, I don’t know. He’s feeding pigeons. Classic old-man thing, sure, but it’s how he was doing it! He’s laughing, like, this deep belly laugh, throwing crumbs into the air like confetti. The pigeons are going crazy, and this guy? He’s just beaming.”

Oliver tilted his head, intrigued but skeptical. “Maybe he’s just really into birds.”

“No, no, it wasn’t just that,” Harper insisted. “I stopped to talk to him. I mean, who wouldn’t? He’s practically glowing! Turns out, his name’s Gus, and he says he’s celebrating. I asked, ‘Celebrating what?’ And he says, ‘Being alive, of course!’ Like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.”

Oliver raised an eyebrow. “That’s… kind of amazing.”

“Right?!” Harper grinned, leaning back in her chair. “He told me this story about how he was sick a few years ago—some kind of heart condition. Doctors didn’t think he’d make it. But he did, and now he just wakes up every day choosing to be happy. He said, ‘Life’s too short to waste on being grumpy, so I don’t.’ Like, how do you argue with that?”

Oliver closed his laptop and leaned forward. “So, what did you do?”

“What do you mean?” Harper asked, confused.

“I mean, did you throw breadcrumbs with him? Share in the joy?”

Harper hesitated, then laughed. “I… may have bought a bag of peanuts from a vendor and joined in. Just for a bit.”

Oliver grinned. “Now I wish I’d been there.”

Harper leaned on her elbows, her expression softening. “You know, it made me realize how rare that kind of joy is. It’s like… he wasn’t just happy for himself. He wanted everyone around him to feel it, too. It was contagious.”

“Sounds like Gus knows something the rest of us don’t,” Oliver said, his tone thoughtful.

“Yeah,” Harper replied, her voice quieter now. “He said the trick is to find something—anything—that makes you smile every day. Even if it’s just feeding pigeons in the park.”

Oliver smiled. “Well, you’ve convinced me. Next free afternoon, we’re finding some breadcrumbs and heading to the park.”

Harper laughed. “Deal. But fair warning—you’re competing with Gus. And I’m pretty sure he’s unbeatable.”