To have followed such a trajectory, on purpose, would have required a team of physicists and engineers working around the clock for two years. Every variable seemed accounted for, from the ambient temperature and humidity to the gentle west-southwest wind. The slight spin that had been imparted was perfect, enough to keep the lightly irregular object stable but also compensating for its irregularity.

It was, in short, an aerodynamic miracle, the like of which few had ever seen and fewer still would ever see again.

It was almost a shame that such kismet had been used—wasted, one might say—to guide a mushy potato from Jimmy Panfield’s hand directly to the head of his second-period teacher, Mrs. Petersen.

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