Read Online The Mystics of Mile End by Sigal Samuel - Free Book Online

sentence I said as fast as I could, “Yes please that would be great I’m starving!” even though I was not. She smiled and said that in that case she would throw something together right away, and how did I feel about spaghetti, meatballs, and roasted-butternut-squash-and-apple soup? Excellent, I said. I felt excellent.
    While she cooked, me and Alex set the table and he tried to get me to understand the difference between a pulsar and a quasar. Even though it sounded interesting, I stopped listening, because I was busy watching Lesley and I needed to pray to God. My prayer was Please please please please please and I prayed it so many times that it started to feel like my heart was saying it, one please with every beat.
    An hour later, Lesley put a steaming bowl of orange soup in front of me. It looked creamy and bright, and it smelled delicious, but there was only one way to be sure. I picked up my spoon and brought it to my mouth.
    That’s when I knew for sure that God was real.
    T he next day, during lunch, me and Alex went back to the library. We had to do more research since we’d need to carefully calculate the space station’s trajectory since it travels 240 miles above the Earth’s surface at a speed of 17,000 miles per hour. As soon as Alex sat behind his fort of books, I picked one of the books out of his pile and flipped to a random page. Behind it, Iopened Fruit of North America and Beyond . I needed to narrow my list down a bit.
    FRUIT THAT MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN ON THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE:
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  1. Apples
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2. Oranges
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.  Peaches (they came from China, and the Garden of Eden was probably in Israel)
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4. Plums
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  5. Tangerines
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  6.  Nectarines (belong to same species as #3)
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  7. Bananas
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  8. Pears
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  9.  Grapes (probably not, since grapes make wine, which makes people drunk, not wise)
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  10. Strawberries (do not grow on trees)
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  11. Cantaloupes (same as #10)
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  12.  Coconuts (how would Adam and Eve break the shell, since tools were not invented yet?)
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  13. Pomegranates
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  14.  Watermelons (same as #10)
    I was thinking about adding a new possibility to the list ( 15. Dates ) when I heard a gasp behind me. I whipped around and saw Alex glaring at the page.
    â€œYou’re supposed to be researching the space station!” he said. “And instead you’re—you’re— What are you doing?”
    â€œNothing,” I said, closing the journal fast. But he’d already seen the title of my list.
    â€œThe Tree of Knowledge? What’s that supposed to be?”
    â€œIt’s—it’s the holy tree in the Garden of Eden. You know, the one Adam and Eve ate from? So they could get knowledge? I’m trying to figure out which fruit could’ve grown on—”
    Alex snorted. “That’s not how you get knowledge, all at once, by eating some fruit off a tree! You get it through the scientific method!”
    â€œNo, you don’t understand, see . . .” I sighed. Alex was not Jewish, so I had to do a lot of explaining to get him to understand about