or, Explaining the semi-miraculous
Some kind of miracle just happened. Not the supernatural kind--I'm not sure I believe in those--but nonetheless amazing.
Backstory: Sold a laptop on eBay to a buyer in the U.K. He "paid" through a fraudulent escrow service, but before we knew it was fraudulent, we'd already shipped it. Not having a lot of contact with the police in London, we thought it was lost for good, along with the $750 it would have fetched. This was about three months ago.
Today: Postman shows up at our door with a package "returned to sender." It was the laptop, in the same condition as we'd sent it.
Possible reasons as to stated miracle:
1. Buyer did not know fraudulent escrow service was indeed fraudulent so returned in goodwill, even though he lost $750 (very unlikely, as he never returned any e-mails)
2. He had it shipped to an address where someone was supposed to pick it up, only they never did so it got sent back (most likely)
3. He is dying and had an attack of conscience so he returned it (riiiiiiight)
4. He died before he could have the attack of conscience and so a relative of his had the attack of conscience (about as likely as #3 but still unlikely, as box was returned unopened)
5. He was tracked down and beaten to death by bounty hunters who returned the package (yeah, but we didn't hire anyone--it's only $750--though it would explain why he never returned any of our e-mails)
6. ...? [insert idea here]
Really lucky, we are.