The Mischievous Traffic Lights

Once upon a time, in a very small town, there were two roads that crossed each other. Many cars passed here every day and every night.

To help pedestrians cross from one side to the other, there were traffic lights above the road. They were there to watch over everyone and guide their way safely across the way.

When they lit RED, all of the cars stopped and the people waiting on the pavement could safely walk across the road. Once they turned YELLOW, the cars got ready, and when they lit GREEN, the cars were driving off once again.

It went like this day after day, night after night, until one day, one of the traffic lights got very, very bored. But it wasn’t just feeling bored, to be honest. It was feeling annoyed, and it was getting angry!

Red, yellow, green...

Red, yellow, green…

Red, yellow, green…

“How long am I supposed to be repeating this? It’s always the same colours,” muttered the unhappy traffic light. It looked around at the world and saw that it was full of all sorts of other colours. The traffic light loved how everything looked, and then it looked at itself. It was only grey and rusty.

Red, yellow, green...

Red, yellow, green…

Red, yellow, green…

“It’s your job and it’s why they put you here,” said the little pedestrian traffic light, which stood on the side and helped the people crossing on foot.

“But I like colours! I love colours,” cried the big traffic light. “Am I really supposed to keep switching between just three colours, always in the same order, forever and ever?”

The traffic light’s thoughts went running wild through its wires when it suddenly got an idea. Why don’t I shine in whichever…