The gray SUV sailed through the intersection without slowing. He didn’t get 100 meters before the blue and red lights on a police cruiser lit up the night and the rear-view mirror of the SUV driver.

“License and registration,” the officer asked the driver as he came up alongside the SUV.

“Sure, okay, officer. Is there a problem?”

“You ran that stop sign at the intersection back there.”

“Wait, what? There was no stop sign…”

“Sure is. It’s a four way stop. Take a look.”

The driver stuck his head out his window and craned his head around towards the intersection he’d just came through. Sure enough, he could see the silver octagon of the back of a stop sign. “What? I swear that wasn’t there a second ago!”

“Well,” the officer said, “It’s not like the stop sign jumped out of the bushes all of a sudden.”

The driver sighed in defeat. “I guess…”

The officer watched the SUV drive off as he finished his paperwork on the stop before backing back into the pullout. He got out of his cruiser and walked to the stop sign.

“Thanks, Eddie.”

The stop sign rattled acknowledgement.

The officer let a silence pass. “It’s been five years, Eddie. Who would have guessed after that drunk driver T-boned your cruiser you’d be inhabiting this particular stop sign?”

The stop sign rattled agreement. Pause. The stop sign rattled sadly.

“Yeah, Eddie, I miss you, too.”

The stop sign rattled in anticipation.

“Yeah, I hear them coming, too. Shall we?”

The stop sign rattled and then the branch of the shaggy tree right next to the stop sign moved over completely obscuring the stop sign.

“I’m so glad you learned how to do that, Eddie. It helps.”

The stop sign rattled the branch camouflage.

The officer walked back to his cruiser to wait.