It was an intrinsic reaction, whenever she approached the red traffic light at night. “Never stop…” embedded in her thanks to the numerous advisory received in closed Facebook groups.

The daily headlines and news reports, made her all the more anxious. A lone female, working late at night, what could she do, she had to earn her keep. Right? “Beware, kids throwing rocks at passing motorist on M5…Never stop”, “I refuse to drive at night, after an attempted hijacking while stopping at the red light on the c/o Keurmy and Princeton Drive…”

Never mind that she HAD to drive down Princeton Drive every day. She tried her best to time the lights as to NOT illegally drive through the stop light, she was after all a law abiding citizen…not even a traffic fine in her name!

However, this particular night, it poured with rain, she only left the office at 8pm, deadlines MUST be met, or else…Umbrella in hand, she ran to her vehicle in the parking lot. As she switched on her vehicle, an eerie feeling crept over her as she looked at the shadows lurking in the dark where her lights had no reach. The rhythmic swish of her wipers, bringing back a sense of reality, as she cranked up the volume to Pinks’ The Truth About Love’s CD.

She lit her cigarette, took off her heels and floored the accelerator, water splashing as she drove through the many potholes in the industrial area. Finally, nearing the Keurmy Road intersection, she worked on her timing, again, the street lights were out and she could “imagine” faces lurking in the shadows. After all, this was a dodgy area…

Putting out her cigarette, she timed the traffic lights, green, amber, red…not her turn to stop…nearing the Princeton Drive and Keurmy Road intersection, the robot changed green, relief washed over her, perfect timing, no need to stop at the red light. Slowly her anxiety evaporated, almost home safe, almost.

She accelerated, for fear of amber, oblivious to the sparse traffic around her; at 70 km/hour she’d be home in 20 minutes! 100 meters from the intersection, she knew she was going to be home free and no need to “Never stop…” she could see the headlights of a taxi as it approached from Keurmy Road, but she was home free, the traffic light was still green…no need to “Never stop…”

20:34, time of death…there was no need for her to NEVER STOP at a red robot, the speeding taxi took care of that…

“Never Stop…”, is this week’s title of a tandem blog, 3 bloggers 1 title. All published on the same day at the same time. Read my fellow tandem blogger’s interpretation by following the below links. Comments are welcome!

Celeste: Surviving Jonkersville

Shelley: The Deal Is