Candii sleepily pushed her foot to the floor and whisked the band into the theater district. They drove among the blinking marquee lights and fashionable thespians walking the streets. The nightlife was just coming alive and the night was young, although Candii had already pushed herself very hard that day. As they rounded a corner, Key Gullz spotted Morgana floating out of a second story window with a glowing unicorn pearl in hand.

“Look! It’s the witch!” she said.

Morgana noticed them and raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think you’d be so capable at finding these little gems scattered all over my kingdom. Because of your little road trip, you’ve forced me to get my hands dirty. Despite my New Year’s resolution being to get out of the house more, I can’t say I appreciate it.” Morgana floated effortlessly above the rooftops. “I have four unicorn pearls with me now. That should be enough for me to begin my work. Good luck getting this rogue one, though. This man is simply insufferable and I don’t have the time or patience to argue with him. I’ll just come back tomorrow when I have time and turn him into a toad.” Morgana wrapped herself inside her cape and vanished into thin air.

“Ugh! We were too late,” Candii yelled. She slapped the steering wheel but stopped when she began to feel very dizzy. “Whoa.” She held her head.

“Are you okay?” Key Gullz asked. She placed a hand on Candii’s shoulder. “It sounds like she’s done for the night. We can pick this up again tomorrow morning, bright and early.”

“No...” Candii murmured. “The unicorns are in pain. I can feel it.” She placed her hand on her heart. Tiny emotional strings, stretching across the land, sea, and air, connected her with her team back home. As time went on, the unicorns neighed more slowly. Their will was draining and whatever residual magic was left in them was waning as well. If she failed to restore their magic soon, they would revert to horses and lose all their talents and intelligence with no hope of restoration. “We must press on.”

“Then there’s no time to dawdle!” Sir Taco said. “Let’s get inside and get the unicorn pearl she left behind!”

The band entered the lofted studio apartment and was wowed by all the beautiful artwork on enormous canvases filling the space. The paintings seemed sad, adorned with tortured figures in red, black, and grays.

“Clearly a starving artist lives here,” Sir Taco said.

“And his name is Thaddeus.” A man emerged from behind one of the paintings. His threw his hand dramatically over his forehead. His pose and sad face identically matched the painting. It was kind of funny in a sad clown sort of way. “Have you come to criticize me, too?”

Confused, Candii said, “What? No. Is that what she did to you? That witch who was just here?”

“She’s right, you know. I’m an untalented hack. I’ll never break out of depressionist art.” Thaddeus sighed and slumped to the ground. He fingered a paintbrush and painted a blue teardrop on his cheek.

“Yikes. That’s a little harsh, don’t you think? I’m sure…” Sir Taco looked around the room. He only saw sadness. “…you’re good… at other stuff… too.” He looked to Key Gullz for support but she only shrugged.

Thaddeus stood abruptly. He cast a defiant hand toward the band. “It is not my talent that is in question! No, it is my artist’s block! I can’t explain it, but ever since a shiny ball flew into my window, I’ve been blossoming with ideas for the depressionist art I was experimenting on. I’m so over this muse, but I feel compelled to keep pouring out more depressionist art.”

Thaddeus sighed again and fell to the ground. “I am a man driven by my emotions! Maybe if I could be inspired by some other powerful emotion, then I could evolve past this passe style and finally reinvent myself. I literally feel trapped despite being in awe of the quality of my work.” He rolled across the wooden floor and stopped below a series of small canvases all sporting his face in different colored boxes. He slowly stood and aligned his face with one of them. It was a very interesting performative art. “Oh, and I simply can’t stand that glowing ball. I’m planning on selling it to a friend to pay some of my bills since my depressionist paintings have flooded the market and aren't selling anymore.”

Thad Penguino called the band together in a huddle. “So, I did a quick internet search and looked up all of the symptoms he described. As a now amateur doctor thanks to my search history, I’m thinking the unicorn pearl is giving Thaddeus this amazing amplification of his muse and skill, but somehow it’s got him stuck in it.”

Candii nodded in concurrence. “But how can we help him move on?”

“He said it himself,” Sir Taco said. “Let’s move him with some other emotion.” Sir Taco broke the huddle and turned to Thaddeus. “What are you feeling inside?”

“I am lonely, dear stranger.”

“Why are you lonely? Where are your friends?”

“They abandoned me. They said I would only hold them back because depressionist art is so last week. Now they’re all into angry art. Pfft. That’ll never take off.”

Sir Taco gestured to Thad Penguino. “Get the instruments.”

Begin Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day

VERSE 1 & 2

I … walk.

“Hear our words, Thaddeus,” Sir Taco said as he pointed at him.

Thaddeus cracked a smile and pointed at himself and mouthed the words ‘who me?’

“This guy’s got a sense of humor!” Key Gullz said.

After a moment, Thaddeus’ smile melted away as the magically amplified feeling of depression filled every recess of his mind.

“This song is dedicated to all your lousy friends!” Candii shouted. “Imagine them for me.”

Thaddeus closed his eyes and tried to envision his lousy friends who ditched him; it made him feel sad. He saw only darkness and shadows. He could barely remember their faces.

CHORUS

My … alone.

Some force filling the room kept drawing his thoughts back to depressing things. The feeling was so strong that he felt an urge to keep painting right then and there. He brought out a blank canvas and splashed what appeared to be random colors of paint all over it. After the paint dripped off the canvas, it was just one big crying face.

“Wow, he’s good,” Candii admired. “Although he’s still stuck in his rut.”

“Do your friends have names, Thaddeus?” Thad Penguino asked.

VERSE 3 & 4

I'm … alone.

“Yes. There was Janus, Peter, Pauley, and…” Thaddeus stopped and sat still for a moment. “...and Johnny.”

“Who was Johnny?” Thad Penguino asked.

“Oh, he was just my best friend, but I don’t know anymore.”

“Why? What happened?”

“He abandoned me.” Thaddeus picked up a small picture frame with a picture of him and Johnny. They were holding hands and frolicking in the park. “Just when I was hitting my stride with my depressionist art, he stopped supporting me.”

“Some friend he turned out to be,” Sir Taco said.

CHORUS

My … alone.

“Johnny seems to be a very good friend,” Key Gullz winked. “Too bad he ditched Thaddeus like bad habit.”

“Breaking up with someone can definitely lead to intense sadness. Combine that with emotional magic and you’re in for a roller coaster,” Sir Taco said.

“Clearly this is the work of the unicorn pearl,” Candii said. “It seems messing with one’s emotions can be an unforeseen consequence when granting greatness. I wonder what other unpredictable effects the unicorn pearls are having on their users?”

“Hey Thaddeus!” Sir Taco said. “If Johnny was really your boy, he wouldn’t have left you in a lurch!”

Thaddeus had not thought of or called Johnny in days. He thought maybe he was wrong for not reaching out. But then again, if Johnny really wanted to talk, he could have picked up the phone.

INSTRUMENTAL

♫♫♫

He remembered Johnny instructing him call when ‘he got good again’ before walking out the door one last time. Tears streaming down his face dried up. “Johnny, you said we’d be together forever. You said you believed in me. That was a lie!”

“Now we’re getting somewhere. We should hire out our services as musical therapy professionals,” Key Gullz joked.

“Shh!” Candii scolded. “Let the man have his moment!”

VERSE 5

I … alone.

Thaddeus arose and grabbed a paint brush. He approached a canvas of a beautiful man surrounded by thorns and spikes. He drew a set of angry eyebrows on the man.

“He was never by my side. He was just riding my coattails.” He splashed paint across the floor. “They all were!” He threw himself down and rolled around in the colors.

Sir Taco shielded his face as splotches of paint flew everywhere. “No need to get too crazy, my dude. You can always learn to forgive…”

“No forgiveness!” Thaddeus yelled. “I’m so mad!”

Key Gullz tapped Sir Taco on the shoulder. “Anger is just as good as any emotion to divert away from depression.”

Candii shook her head. “I don’t like doing it this way, but we need to keep moving. Let’s just do this.”

CHORUS

My … alone.

“Yeah, Johnny sounds like a real jerk!” Sir Taco said.

Thaddeus jumped around the room drawing angry eyebrows on all his work. Some of the fresh paint continued to drip and created unibrows and mustaches on the figures.

“I think you’ve found your next muse,” Sir Taco said.

“I think you’re right, stranger!” Thaddeus pried open a floorboard and pulled out a glowing unicorn pearl. “Here, take it! I don’t need it anymore. I’ve moved on to hate art!”

Candii clutched the unicorn pearl. “This one is for Princess.”

The band wished Thaddeus the best of luck on his new style and loaded themselves back into the van. Candii safely stored the unicorn pearl in the back with the others.

End Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day