Finding a four-leaf clover brings good luck

Setting:
A sunny afternoon in a London park. Two friends, Emily and James, are sitting on the grass after lunch. Emily is on her knees, scanning the grass intently.

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Emily: (excitedly) Wait—hold on! I think I’ve found one!

James: (peers over his sandwich) What, another four-leaf clover? That’s the third time you’ve said that today.

Emily: (holds up a small plant) No, really! Look—one, two, three, four leaves. This is definitely a lucky one. My week’s sorted!

James: (chuckles) Emily, you do realise it’s just a mutation in the clover’s DNA, right? About one in five thousand of them have four leaves. That’s probability, not magic.

Emily: Oh, come on, James. Every time I’ve found one, something good has happened. Remember last summer? I found one before my job interview—and I got the job!

James: Or maybe you got the job because you were qualified, prepared, and charmingly over-caffeinated. You’re confusing cause and coincidence.

Emily: But it’s too much of a coincidence! And last week, I found another just before my cousin called to say she was getting married. Good things always follow.

James: (smiling) That’s called confirmation bias. You remember the times the “luck” worked and forget the hundred times it didn’t. Did you find a four-leaf clover before you lost your phone last month?

Emily: (pauses) Well… no. But I wasn’t looking that day!

James: (laughs) Exactly! You’re basically playing hide and seek with probability.

Emily: (defensive but playful) You’re just jealous because you never find them. Maybe luck just doesn’t like you.

James: (mock offense) Excuse me, luck adores me. I just prefer to credit physics, not fairies.

Emily: (grinning) Physics never helped anyone win the lottery.

James: True. But statistics will tell you that you’ve got a better chance of being struck by lightning while finding a four-leaf clover than actually winning.

Emily: (laughs) You’re impossible. You can’t deny, though, that it feels good—like a little wink from the universe.

James: I’ll give you that. There’s something lovely about the hunt itself. It’s mindful, peaceful… I just think the “luck” comes from how it makes you feel, not from the plant itself.

Emily: So you’re saying the magic’s in my mind, not the clover?

James: Precisely. It’s your brain releasing dopamine because you found something rare and beautiful. That little happiness might make you more confident—and that’s the real luck.

Emily: (smiles thoughtfully) Hmm. I suppose a bit of self-made magic isn’t so bad.

James: There you go! Keep the clover if it makes you happy—just don’t expect it to pay your electricity bill.

Emily: Deal. But if I win the raffle at work tomorrow, I’m buying you a frame for my lucky clover.

James: And if you don’t, I’m buying you a book on probability.

Emily: (laughs) Fine. Either way, one of us wins.