I had whisked out my cell phone and straightened my headphones as I looked at the dreary backyard that replaced the paradise I had once knew. I stepped into the carpet of leaves and the soiled ground, it longed for something. I wasn't sure what, it just looked colorless; the vibrant hot, crisp, summer day was gone.

I walked past the dead flowers that still dripped water and soaked up the ground. I focused my attention away from the colorless dystopia to the cell phone pulling up my music application. Listed in suggestions was a weird name, a band called 30 seconds to mars. I shrugged and went to one of their top songs that immediately caught my eye "This is War."

I came upon the rope that constantly swung from the tree in my yard, it was, of course, damp and filled with water on the inside as well. The whole backyard was drowning in water. I played the song regardless and began to motion to the rope, a new summer day will come and for that day the rope needs to be broken out.

My foot entered the hole that was in the rope as I gripped it, fond memories of the past came to me. I took many footsteps back as my eyes stared longingly at the sky, and my legs shook with palpable excitement. Once I had stepped to the point where it was impossible for me to go any further. I finally pressed play on my phone and started swinging, maintaining my position on the rope and not trying to fall; it was a struggle, a war for the rope not to fall between my weight and the water.

"A warning to the people, the good and the evil. This is War."

The voice lulled my anxiety about whether I was going to stay up or not and I was lost in the rhythm and the voice. Only few songs had the achievement of making me engrossed right from the start.

"To the soldier, the civilian, the martyr, the victim..."

I climbed higher onto the rope and leaned away from it, listening attentively at each spoken word, the rope held and I reached just a few inches above ground not falling, it was a relief to say the least. I thought of the wars America had been in, and more than that, I thought of personal conflicts. It seemed right before my eyes I saw threats and conflicts pouring out over communities that traversed not just the present, but the past and perhaps even the future.

"It's the moment of truth, and the moment to lie. The moment to live and the moment to die. The moment to fight...the moment to fight."

I raised myself up even higher than I was. Looking toward the distance I started spinning around, a crazy pendulum that had deviated from its course. I was on the path right to a tree and I dug into it with my foot. I lay paused kicking the tree, and it seemed that the world had turned slow. I had completely stopped. I was bewildered. I said to myself instinctively "The moment to fight.." in unison with the song. I applied all the force I could muster to the tree kicking myself back from it, as I spun and swung out of control.

"To the right....

To the left...

We will fight...till"

The headphones whirled off of me and I spun so crazily I couldn't even hear the chorus and the majority of the words. I swung back into the tree and it stabbed my side. I groaned and fell back to the tree near it. After a few seconds I picked up my headphones, still looking around at the world around me.

"It's a brave new world.."

The yard was still colorless, the water dulled it and made it uncomfortable to be in; but that doesn't mean that color can't be brought to it. I sighed and began to position myself for round two, putting my headphones back on.

"A warning to the prophet, the liar, the honest. This is war...
To the leader, the pariah, the victor, the messiah.
This is war..."

I could feel these people being threatened, what it felt like, and the ferocity of it all. I pulled back and spun around closing my eyes; trusting that the path I was on was the right one and I wouldn't go tumbling into a tree again. The spin moved with great force but I could feel it diminishing.

The chorus repeated as I began to swivel around and finally pulled myself back up one more time to hop off and land. I breathed with excitement; I could feel the adrenaline surge through my veins. I positioned myself once more and swung again, this time the path was heading right toward a tree.

"It's a brave new world!..
It's a brave new world!.."

I kicked it. The world stopped. The headphones whirled around me entangling me as I tried to push myself back, the rope couldn't stand the weight so my body when I was back into the air again. It let me loose and I was slowly dug into the ground. First my foot was buried, then my arms were interred as my hands met brutal pine cones. The headphones lay next to my head voicing out words despite of what had just happened. I looked at the branch that held up the rope as water began to fall and drip from it, landing on me. Water on such a cloudy and colorless day, how fitting.

"I do believe in the light
Raise your hand into the sky..."

I looked at the cloudy sky, what light was there to be found? Only the grey dullness, but I stood there staring at it anyway. My body more or less refused to get up after listening to its insane master.

"The fight is done...
The war is won..."

I pictured it, the families returning home, the strength in their eyes and their hearts. War is always devastating and has its downfalls, but the moment of victory gives us the pride and ability to fight the next one.

"Toward the sun...
Toward the sun.."

I forced my body to adhere to me once again as I dug my hands out of the spikes of the pinecone and put my headphones on with confidence. I hopped back up, vivified, I now stood before the rope. The previous chorus rang now in the song, and with it I grew even more confident and eager to go back into the adventure of monochrome. I stood positioned.

I swung straight and happily, I stepped one foot forward and took one hand off the rope. Now swinging 7 feet from the ground I raised my hand in a victory pose, fist clenched and standing straight. I could imagine it all, celebrations and pride; light after such gloominess.

"The war is won."

Even in the dullest monochrome the metronome will always swing. And that's just what I am, A metronome in a world of monochrome.