Night Signal

I walked further down the sidewalk toward the illuminated corner. At the base of a matte grey lamppost, layers of torn vinyl stickers formed a weathered, textured collage. One rectangular cyan sticker hung partially loose, printed with crisp black sans-serif glyphs. I pressed my palm flat against the paper, smoothing the adhesive back onto the cold metal post. A soft amber beam pooled directly over my shoulder from the streetlight overhead. Down the block, muffled bass drifted from an underground bar entrance. I leaned back against the steel curve, took a slow breath, and watched the taillights trail by.