Shadows of the Forsaken:
A Tale of a Traffic Light
Written By: Lance J. Gosnell
In the eerie confines of a forgotten Arkansas town, nestled in the foothills of the Ozarks. It was in the tumultuous 1990s that the city utility worker met his untimely end, consumed by a malevolent current while fixing a traffic light. His body vanished without a trace, swallowed by darkness. Whispers of the Dixie Mafia’s sinister involvement began to crawl like shadows through the town.
Two decades later, a teenage girl named Emily stumbled upon an enigmatic artifact in her grandfather’s musty garage – an old traffic light, its once-bright colors now dulled by time. Intrigue and trepidation twined in her heart as she discovered the link between this forsaken relic and her mother’s long-lost brother, the city worker who’d perished.
Emily’s journey into the macabre heart of the tale began. She unraveled the threads of a mournful connection – her mother’s secret sorrow for a brother never forgotten. The girl’s grandmother, worn by the weight of memory, whispered tales of the past and implored Emily to leave the traffic light be, to let it rest.
Yet, an insidious force tugged at the corners of Emily’s mind. The light seemed to shimmer with an eerie awareness, its signals shifting in her presence. Friends regaled her with chilling legends of the uncle’s demise, hinting at supernatural forces lingering around the traffic light.
Darkness weaved its tendrils deeper into Emily’s world as the traffic light’s sinister influence grew. She’d converse with it, though no voice emerged. Haunting whispers echoed through her mind, tempting her to unveil the truth buried in the shadows.
With each revelation, Emily’s grasp on reality wavered. The tragic tale unraveled – her uncle had meddled with the light’s colors, inadvertently disrupting the Dixie Mafia’s clandestine dealings. Their vengeance was swift and merciless.
As the mysteries coalesced, Emily confronted her grandmother, unearthing the truth that shattered their fragile equilibrium. In facing the past, the family found solace and closure, the traffic light transforming from a harbinger of dread into a poignant symbol of remembrance.
Still, the darkness had not fully receded. The traffic light retained its eerie consciousness, a silent sentinel guarding the secrets of the past. It stood as a stark reminder that some mysteries, like shadows, never truly fade, lurking just beyond the edge of perception. And in that Arkansas town, the tale lived on, a whisper in the wind and a chill down the spine, as timeless as the haunting glow of a traffic light at dusk.
Lance J. Gosnell 