At the busiest corner in the whole city, there stood a traffic light named Trixie.
Trixie had three colours.
Red meant stop.
Amber meant get ready.
Green meant go.
This was very simple.
Trixie had done it perfectly for six years.
Until a pigeon sat on her head.
Coo.
And Trixie blinked. 🚦
🏙️ Red? Green? Oh Dear.
The blink mixed things up.
Trixie showed red.
Then immediately showed green.
Then wasn’t sure, so showed both.
The cars stopped.
The cars went.
The cars stopped again.
Nobody quite knew what to do.
A very polite taxi driver stopped and waved at the car beside him.
“After you.”
“No no, after YOU,” said the other driver.
“I insist.”
“I also insist.”
Behind them, six more cars had stopped and were all waving politely at each other.
It was the most courteous traffic jam the city had ever seen.
🚦 The Pigeons Don’t Help
More pigeons arrived.
Because pigeons always arrive when something is happening.
Coo. Coo. Coo.
Trixie blinked faster.
Red green red green red red GREEN red.
“I don’t know what I am,” Trixie said miserably.
“You’re confused,” said the pigeon helpfully.
“Thank you. Yes.”
A lollipop lady arrived with her big stick and stood in the middle and waved everyone through in an orderly fashion.
Trixie watched her gratefully.
She was doing Trixie’s job, but with more hat and more authority.
💛 Ella Sorts It Out
Ella was crossing at Trixie’s corner when the engineer arrived with a little toolbox.
Ella watched the engineer press two buttons.
Click click.
Trixie went red.
Pause.
Amber.
Pause.
Green.
Perfect. Normal. Orderly.
“Better?” said Ella.
Trixie glowed a steady, certain green.
Much better.
The pigeon was still on her head.
But at least now only one of them was confused. 🚦