“I knew something like this was going to happen,” said Nellie.

Nellie always knew what was going to happen. She’d see someone trip on the sidewalk, two cars crash at an intersection, lightning hit a rooftop, and shake her head.

“I knew that was going to happen.”

During what experts call the “magic years” of childhood, when children believe in impossible behaviors and events, Jane truly thought her mother had special powers. As Jane grew into the less magical years, she grew slightly more judgmental.

“If you knew it was going to happen, Mom, why didn’t you stop it?”

Nellie shrugged. Her powers could not be explained.

Lucky Stuff, by Sharon Fiffer, p. 17