Lena never believed in magic. She believed in microbiology, in the precise dance of enzymes and cells, in the predictable orbit of planets. Magic was for fairy tales and children who hadn't yet learned the periodic table.
"Take it," the woman said, her voice like dry leaves skittering across cobblestones. "And when you are ready to change your life, let it go." The Butterfly Effect
Lena smiled—a real smile, the kind she hadn't worn since before her mother's voice went thin—and set the jar back on the windowsill. Lena never believed in magic