A Coaster Circuit

Heading back from the bowling alley, I found the living room a bit too peaceful for prime time. Right in the center of the dark wooden coffee table, someone left a neat stack of round cork drink coasters next to a shallow ceramic bowl. Naturally, I couldn't just walk past. I picked up three coasters with my gloved hands, tilted them onto their edges, and set them rolling in a tight concentric spiral around the bowl. Before the outermost coaster could lose speed, I vaulted onto the middle one, balancing on the thin cork edge like a circus tightrope act while all three spun together. They wobbled, clattered flat in a neat overlapping fan, and left me standing right on top of the stack with an easy grin.