Painting the Roses Black

Painted Black and Taken Back

Insomnia, Destruction, and Depression walked towards the Colourful land. They were armed with instruments, black paint, and the coordination of an army. Black paraders unfolded from the shadows and joined them. They were a decent sized army. Atelophobia, Poverty, and Anorexia were right behind Insomnia, along with the other leaders of The Black Parade: Suicide, Stress, and Anxiety. Anxiety was a bass player with awkward knees that never smiled, Stress was a blonde drummer with the bright blue eyes, and Suicide was another guitarist that had an afro.

They marched to the edge of the realm and looked out across a feild. The castle of the King of Hearts was waiting for them. It was asleep under the stars and new moon. it was dark, making the paraders difficult to see. They crossed the border and walked into the gates of the castle through the orchards and the gardens. Everywhere they went they splashed black paint on the blossoms. The King loved his gardens, as he was quite depressed and they were soothing. They were still silent. They came to the main garden and heard the late night gardener arguing with one of his servants.

"I wanted Red roses! Not pink ones! Whats wrong with you?" He was shouting. Insomnia peered through a hedge and saw the poor servant.

"Well, sir, Alice once said, 'We could always paint the roses red'," They servant muttered. Insomnia heard the term 'Alice' somewhere before. She decided she liked whatever Alice was.

"Have you ever painted a rose petal? It wilts from lack of air and becomes ugly and loses it beauty. Its wilted and gross and Alice is a stupid girl for thinking it would work," The Gardener yelled. He hit the servant boy. Insomnia was enraged. How dare he insult Alice and hit the poor servant boy?!?!

Insomnia saw the Gardener hit the boy in the face a few more times and lost it.

"Get off him! How dare you beat the boy?! He's only a child! And how dare you insult Alice?!" She screeched. The gardener freaked out at the sight of her. She grabbed his shoulders and smashed his face into her bony knee. She pulled his bloodiedface up to hers and gave him her best Cheshire Cat smile. She sang him a few bars of a song and watched him morph into a parader.

"Hello, Abuse. Welcome to The Black Parade," She told him. She handed him off to Depression and knelt down by the crying servant boy. She scoopedhim up in her arms and hugged him.

"No one can hurt you any more," She told him. He smiled at her. He had vampire fangs. Depression grinned at him and gave him a respectful bow.

"Vampire child," He said. The little boy nodded. Insomnia handed him a paintbrush and shared her paintcan with him.

"Wanna help paint the roses black?" She asked him. He nodded and she set him down.

"Whats your name kid?" Destruction asked him.

"Harper," He said sadly.

"Do you like that name?" Insomnia asked. He shook his head. "My name's Insomnia. Whats your new name?" She asked him. He thought for a minute.

"Shadow," He said proudly. Insomnia smiled.

"Well shodow, you're with us now. Welcome to the Black Parade, Vampire Child," She said. He smiled proudly up at her and the army continued marching. They marched right to the castle doors. Depression signaled with the raising of his fist. The rest of the paraders put their fists, instruments, and dripping black paint brushes to the inky night sky. A cry rang out with all the paraders. A passionate, angry, united war cry. It was a catostrophic sound that could be heard far away on the clouds. They all played at one time. Singing, playing, screaming, clapping.

When I was a young boy,

My father took me into the city

To see a marching band.