The Black parade

So here I am, far away from the living, but not quite in the realm of the dead yet. This tragic affair that was the final days of my life, all culminated into a finely polished cherry coffin. All of them, friends and family, gathered around me dressed in black, mixing in with the lot of them. This is a black day for them, a day to reflect and remember me.

Who am I? My name is of no importance to anyone, no one will remember it in years to come. The doctors and nurses just called me "The patient", so that title will suffice.

Funerals were made to remember the happy moments of the deportee's life, to talk of happy experiences, occasionally laugh and cry, sometimes both at the same time. While they live and converse of these issues, I am forced to relive all the bad ones, one at a time.

The boundaries of heaven and hell are misconceived and strewn about like badly cut puzzle. When you die, you always go to hell, no matter how good of a person you were, or devout of a christian you had been. Hell awaits us all. We all have sinned in our lives, whether it's shoplifting a candy bar, to lying to a friend, to even murdering people, we all sin, and we all must be judged for it.

This is where "Hell" comes into play. A Grey, black, and white place, that varies depending on your perspective and outlook on life after death. Mine was a dusty desolate place, with burnt out buildings in the distance. Then they come to meet you, to greet you with bony fingers and toothy smiles. You don't' know them, but they sure know you very well. They say they've been expecting you. They told me that they had been waiting since my diagnosis of the cancer that had ultimately killed me in the end.

They were cheering for me, playing loud music that shook the dirty ground. I was still in my hospital gown, not feeling any better than when my heart had stopped. My ears were still ringing from the flat line of the cardiograph, I could still feel slight numbness from the meds they had injected into me. My IV line was still connected, so I had tried to pull it out, but the harder I yanked, the deeper that damned needle burrowed into my pale flesh. The line was red from my blood flowing out of it. I was dead, but still uncomfortable.

A tall man, gaunt faced and Ashly pale, came up to me from the procession and greeted me.

"Greetings! I will be your guide through these hollow plains and hills here. You will be judged by us, and you will see things that you and others connected to you have experienced."

I did not like this man, he was quite morbid looking, dressed in an all black parade uniform, a large marching baton gripped tightly in his bony left hand, while his right hand slowly pushed and ushered me forward. As we slowly walked, the large throng behind us started to follow, playing a slow steady musical piece to accommodate our trek.

"Who are you?" I croaked.

"I have no name, no one does here in hell my lad! But you could say, I'm not unlike Virgil who guided Dante through the rings of hell, even though that story is way off, because there are no rings of hell here my boy!" the man said cheerfully, giving my shoulder a firm squeeze.

"Judged?" I asked, my voice still hoarse sounding.

"Yes! Yes!" He cheered, raising his baton high into the air.

Everyone behind us cheered and the bass drum started to beat out a heavy tatu.

He continued," All must be judged here in hell, to see if they can clear up all the mistakes and mishaps in their lives before they can ascend to the great beyond! You must face your demons and forgive all those to had transgressions with you! It won't be easy my boy, nor will it be enjoyable! In fact, I'm quite sure you're going to hate it down here with us! But that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun with some music right?"

I nodded.

"Splendid!" the man shouted excitedly.

He pulled a small rusty whistle out from his marching tunic, and turned to face the parade behind us. He twirled the baton, making quick sharp arcs with it while blowing loudly on the whistle. The crowd went wild, cheering madly and clapping, some even whistling back.
Soon the parade swelled in size as more deathly and grotesque looking creatures joined the long column of participants. They all were armed with an instrument of some sort, some wearing faded gas masks that had been worn in the first world war. My dead grandfather had worn one of those during his tour in Europe. They all wore black parade uniforms with the tall brimmed hats. A few females joined too, looking pale and drained of blood, like cadaver ballerinas. They danced and swayed with the music that was being played.

"What is happening? What is going on?!" I cried out, covering my ears from the loud din of the music.

"Relax old boy! Enjoy the music, you'll like it soon enough! A few moments ago, it was the end! Now we begin your journey! Come one come all to this tragic affair! We begin your descent! We begin your trial!"

The music got louder, unbearable!

"WE BEGIN YOUR ENDING WITH A NEW BEGINNING! WE ENCOURAGE YOUR SMILES, WE EXPECT YOU WON'T CRY! " The man was shouting now, his eyes wide with excitement, "WE WANT YOU TO JOIN THE BLACK PARADE! BUT FIRST YOU MUST REALIZE!"

I turned to stare at the man as he continued to twirl that baton of his, "I MUST REALIZE WHAT?! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" I shouted over the deafening music.

He suddenly stopped in place, he gave his baton a final twist and twirl before lowering it to his side. The music immediately stopped.

He turned to look at me with that grin on his face, "You haven't realized it yet my boy?"

I Shook my head, "No, I haven't!"

"You still don't know what you are right now, this very instant?!" he hissed at me, his eyes narrowing coldly, but still he kept that grin.

I gulped, fearful to reply, but thought it best to do so anyway, "No, I have no idea."

His eyes lit up again, his grin broadened, "Why my boy.....what you are....is..."

I leaned forward in anticipation, eager to hear.

"DEAD!!!!"

He screamed it in my ear, suddenly I could hear the long drone of the flat line, I felt my heart stop beating, I gasped for air, then convulsed and collapsed, falling backwards.
A million arms reached out to break my fall, catching me and standing me back up in seconds.

"I'm....I'm..." I could only stammer.

Everyone seemed to scream back at me in one loud booming voice that shook the ground I was standing on.

"DEAD!!! DEAD!!! DEAD!!! DEAD!!"