This could very easily happen, you know.

I am a baker. In a more relaxed sense of the word. Each Saturday and Sunday, I bake the muffins and bagels for an independent coffee shop. I am allowed to play feminine music without being judged. It is dart; the town is still asleep; I am allowed to talk to birds without being committed. Each morning, I bake: 78 white bagels (decorated with various seeds), 8 wheat, 8 nine-grain, 4 cheddar & herb, 4 cinnamon-raisin and 4 blueberry. Before I can bake them, the bagels must be carried from the storage building to the coffee shop. The cold, dead weight of the bagels is is a very solid 20 lbs. I make it a point to stay in good shape, so this part has never been the problem. They are carried in a metal basket with a rim at the top that digs into my forearms as a bear-hug it. Again, this part has not been a problem.

On Sunday, my car slid through a stop sign. The tires could not grip any of the neglected town roads. Neither could my shoes: when I got out my car, they gave way. I caught myself on the car door. I let my feet drag across the glass and ease me to the café's door. This sets the scene.

I have counted my bagels and placed them in their bin, which I have then placed in a snowy spot outside the bakery door. I lock the door and turn to face the alley. The sun is peaking over a fence, illuminating the alley. And I foresee my death.

I walk to toward the café, bagels blocking my feet and the ground they walk on from my view. I am hurrying, with heel-toe steps. My feet move such short distances that they seem to leave the ground at the same time. The feet catch, sliding into each other. I begin to fall back. The weight of the bagels pulls me forward. The bagels leave my arms. Several scatter, but their doughiness has glued them together in the tub. The come down as a solid mass. When the crush my nose, there is a cartoon sound, much like a hammer hitting an anvil. And then there is nothing. My eyes leave my body and I see Tarantino-esque blood. The birds would peck at the bagels, but leave me be because I talked to them.