Disclaimer: I do not own The Village.

In retrospect, Mr. Walker thought, it might not have been the best plan to make red the Bad Color.

That first autumn had been… negative. The leaves had turned red, as leaves will, and there had very nearly been a riot. He had had to explain to them, very carefully, that leaves would not attract Those We Don't Speak Of. He made them stop trying to bury every red leaf that fell, and held Kitty back as she tried to take an axe to a perfectly good tree because of one red leaf at the top that wasn't falling.

No matter how many times he tried to explain it to them, they went through the same thing every autumn.

And they had very nearly smothered Ivy because of her hair…

Kitty ran by with an axe raised above her head. She was letting out a war cry and was followed by a shouting mob carrying hand saws. Mr. Walker sighed and stood up to intercept them. Why hadn't he picked purple like Mrs. Hunt had suggested?