It was one of few streetlights in the city and it had been
working longer than any of the others. Although it had never seen its own
beautiful colors it understood that as they changed the cars came and went.
The sun peeked up and The Streetlight knew the driver in the
red Camaro would be coming soon. The driver swerved around the corner, and the
Streetlight waited in anticipation. The driver had gotten a ticket last week. It
was about time! Maybe that would change the driver, the Streetlight
thought.
The Streetlight changed from green to yellow as the driver
approached. Stop!
The red Camaro ran the red light. It wasn’t the driver’s
first time, and it surely wouldn’t be the last. Humans were such strange creatures. They created the streetlights for
order and reason, but humans are chaotic. They don’t obey, and there are
consequences to their actions. The Streetlight always found car accidents
to be amusing and a just reward for disobedience to its beautiful colors.
If a ticket won’t stop
him, and I can’t stop him, surely another car will… It convinced the other
stoplight to follow its plan. There would be a small accident, harmless really…
just a warning. The other streetlights were new and easy to convince.
The next morning the Streetlight waited. It was the windy
season and the Streetlight was swinging back and forth as it waited, loosening
its rusty bolts. The red Camaro came barreling down the road. The man was
speeding faster than normal today. The
streetlight decided to stay green for him—a rare occasion. An SUV coming the
other way went through the other green light just as the Camaro came into the
intersection. That will teach him, it
thought.
Time passed and the Streetlight waited the driver’s return. It will be different this time. The
driver came and the wind grew fierce as the streetlight swung in the wind, its
bolts screeching and loosening. The Camaro sped through the Streetlight’s red
light.
The Streetlight was furious and stayed red most of the day. It
would stop the driver if it was the last thing it did. The driver will obey my colors, it thought.
The next morning the driver came, the wind blew, and the
streetlight waited. The Streetlight knew
what it had to do. It was hoping it wouldn’t come to this. The driver was
earlier than normal. Did he look
different? No…
As the Camaro passed underneath him the
Streetlight loosened its last bolt. Today
is the day; justice must be paid. The Streetlight laughed as it fell into
the driver’s side.
Crushing metal echoed through the street as the green Camaro
swerved and came to a very permanent stop.
Just then the
red Camaro came passing through on the road. The colorblind streetlight gasped
in horror, as its beautiful colors flickered out.
The humans came and cleaned the scene, and the streetlight found itself
in the dump, empty and colorless.
