It was another beautiful day in Elmwood. As the sun climbed its way above the hills, bathing the landscape with an early haze, B-Jay, the wonderful red Beetle car, exited the cool shade of the garage.
Today was another great day for an adventure, and it didn’t take long before he arrived at the cottonwood tree, eager once more to spend time with his friends. As he turned the bend, he caught sight of them all. Aruna the owl, Zippo the ant, Maxwell the dog, Cressida the cat, and Digger Bo the tumbling badger were all eagerly waiting at the side of the hedgerow.
B-Jay wasn’t sure if they could have an adventure as enjoyable as the last one, but it didn’t really matter to him if they did or not; he was just glad to be out in the sunshine, spending more time with his friends.
They all climbed aboard, taking their usual positions. Cressida sat by herself upfront in the passenger seat. Aruna was perched on the driver’s seat headrest. Zippo climbed upon the dashboard so that he could get a good view, while Digger Bo and Maxwell seated themselves on the back seat.
B-Jay greeted them, saying, "I am so pleased you all came. Today is going to be our best adventure yet!"
"Have we decided on what we are going to do this time?" asked Cressida in her usual sarcastic tone, "or are we going to sit here for hours while we wait for the dog to have an actual idea?"
Maxwell was too tired to offer a response, having just had his breakfast. He was curled up on the back seat with the badger, who was tumbling as usual and never seemed to get tired.
"Are we going to play the Alphabet Game again?" Digger enquired. "I really enjoyed learning that game. I have even been practicing my words."
"I think B-Jay said this was going to be our best adventure, not our last adventure," retorted Cressida, grimacing as she spoke. "Especially as you weren’t very good at it last time. I don’t think I could bear to hear you speak of elephants and eggs again."
Digger Bo was not fazed by her cutting humor; he was too busy enjoying himself, tumbling over and over. He merely stopped to respond, "Oh, but it was fun, nonetheless," before continuing his acrobatics.
"Oh yes!" exclaimed B-Jay. "I have thought of an adventure. I thought we could go into town today to see the shops." B-Jay figured that they had never been into town. He had never seen any animals there when his owner visited the shops, and he thought they might find it quite exciting.
"Is that why we are here so early this morning?" asked Zippo the ant, certain that their last adventure had started a lot later in the day.
"I think it is wise to go into town early," responded Aruna the wise Great Horned Owl. "I am sure that Zippo would not enjoy crowds. Ants don’t do well in crowds."
"That is certainly true," Zippo replied. "I had an aunt, a great uncle, and several cousins that were squished a few years ago in the park."
"Could you spare us and save the gory details for our nighttime adventure?" pleaded Cressida, who was eager to set off.
"What a great idea!" said Zippo, spinning his baseball hat round on his finger before flipping it onto his head. "We could all tell scary stories on our nighttime adventure—Whoooooooooo!" He ended the conversation walking across the dashboard like a monster with his arms outstretched. Everyone laughed.
B-Jay pulled away, eager to set off. Despite accelerating slowly, Zippo hadn’t quite got his footing secure and fell over with a tumble that even the badger would have been proud of. They all laughed uncontrollably at his mishap, including Zippo himself, seemingly unhurt by the event.
A few minutes later, the landscape around them changed, and it wasn’t long before they came to the start of the High Street.
"Look, everyone! Shops!" bellowed Zippo, who was back standing up with his face pressed against the windscreen. The High Street stretched out before them, with all manner of interesting shops positioned to their left and their right. It looked so inviting.
"Why have we stopped?" asked Maxwell. "Can’t we get any closer? They look wonderfully exciting!"
"Traffic lights," answered B-Jay.
"Traffic lights?" questioned Zippo. "What is a traffic light?"
"Traffic lights are the coloured lights that help to direct the cars. They tell us when to stop and when to go by shining in different colours," answered B-Jay. "They make travelling safer."
"But why do we have to stop?" asked Zippo, who was as confused as the badger was.
"The town is not normally as quiet as this. That is why we met early today. I didn’t want us to get stuck in lots of traffic," continued B-Jay. "The lights are what stop cars from crashing into each other."
"So when can we move again?" asked Aruna the owl.
"We can go when the light changes to green," said B-Jay. "It is red at the moment, which means we have to stop. When it is amber, it means take caution and go slow, then when it turns to green, it means we can go."
Just as he finished asking his question, the lights changed to green, and they proceeded through the High Street. B-Jay went slowly along so that they could all get the chance to see everything. The shops did indeed look inviting.
"Can we go in the shops?" asked Zippo.
"I don’t think that would be a good idea," responded Aruna the wise. "We don’t want any of us to get lost once they get crowded."
"Aruna is right," said Maxwell as they came to the end of the High Street. "We should really head home soon. There seem to be more cars heading this way."
They turned around, traveling back the way they came, and for a few minutes, all was quiet as they all savoured the colourful displays in each shop window.
"I know a song we can sing on the way home," interjected B-Jay. He tooted his horn a few times, clearing his throat. Trying to find his best singing voice, he began:
"Red light, Amber light, Green light... Oh! These are the traffic signals we now know. Red means stop and Amber means slow, But if the light is Green, then GO, GO, GO!"
Digger Bo thought it was a great song and he tumbled in tune to the melody. Aruna flapped his wings while Maxwell wagged his tail side to side with much enthusiasm. Zippo started breakdancing on the dashboard, spinning his baseball hat with both hands and both feet.
For a second, it seemed that even Cressida was impressed. She had stopped her grooming and was, it seemed, paying attention to the words of the song. Mind you, it was only for a few seconds, and then she continued with her regular cleaning routine.
Once B-Jay had sung the chorus twice, everyone started to sing:
"Red light, Amber light, Green light... Oh! These are the traffic signals we now know. Red means stop and Amber means slow, But if the light is Green, then GO, GO, GO!"
Their voices grew louder and louder each time they repeated the chorus. By the time they arrived back at the cottonwood tree, B-Jay was tooting his horn and flashing his lights, scaring the feathers off every bird they passed along the way.
B-Jay sadly said goodbye to his friends. They all agreed that it had been their best adventure yet. Aruna was the last to leave and made him promise that the next adventure would be a nighttime adventure. B-Jay agreed. At least they would be together, and that made him happy.
He smiled to himself as he closed the garage door behind him.