ACCIDENT (n.)
1. An event occurring without foresight or expectation; specifically, the brief, egalitarian pause in which all household members โ fox, dog, human hand โ arrive at the same unspoken understanding.
2. The towel, already moving toward you before you have finished deciding what happened.
3. The carpet's long memory. The carpet does not comment.
4. See also: dignity, portable; household policy, unified wet-floor; afternoon, grey Wellington, the uses of.
You are a white towel being extended toward a small fox who has not yet decided whether this is happening โ hold perfectly still for five seconds so the fox's dignity remains technically intact.