All that glitters

Muscles twitched at peak efficiency, primed to leap a millisecond before extinction, as a missile sliced past my ear. My head swivelled wildly, hunting the next threat. The battlefield? The gym floor. The weapon? A red rubber ball with malicious intent. PE class accelerated as dodgeball dissolved into Darwinism in shorts.

The introduction of a second ball triggered an arms race. Reflex trumped friendship. Anyone with eyes in the back of the head possessed a decisive evolutionary edge.