For what was art, she thought, but the heart and soul made visible. - Jane Yolen

But I scolded myself, That’s magical thinking, Marina. Consider instead what’s real.

But when I asked Mom, she shrugged and looked up at the sky. She had given up looking at me when we talked.
“Reverend Beelson told us God would provide,” she said, as if reading that in the clouds. “And he does not lie.” It wasn’t clear if she meant Reverend Beelson or God.

She filled the pot, got out a new filter, threw the old one onto the garbage, and counted out five tablespoons of Columbian Supreme. Then she waited while the magic of modern invention turned tap water into a hot dark-brown caffeine-powered drink. It was better than any Biblical miracle and risked no beliefs.