Chain Reaction

I walked over to the coaster tower I had balanced earlier on the low edge. It was still standing in fragile silence. I lined up a stray glass marble a few inches away, judging the slope of the rug. With one calculated flick of my rigid hand, I sent the marble rolling straight into the base coaster. The impact was instant. The inverted structure collapsed inward with a loud snap, plastic sliding across the weave and scattering in four directions. I stood with my arms loose, quietly inspecting the tidy field of debris. It fell exactly how I anticipated.