I took a shadow out on a date last night. 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQq7sKzLyr
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡznG1rXiTyD
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmAQoYkcMyK
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIBIB0waeI
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw5mXbjdMvg
blurry silhouette910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjbHYmsEkZ
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiCPAQTcD91
after staring at a bright light.910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzEFuTYnxKY
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOJbRQz0R42
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLNVPnSFeZ
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ54m02nu0t
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuPstUYoapI
blotchy green and purple,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy4GgvzR3N2
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3VkONI9vq
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXZXbMkdqF
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2k2BU7l0HT
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0kEBW9N9C
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5z3UAPbiNf
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt72T4Kl1sS
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1WjSke9Rp
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOKPZQhvTn
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Isgvnpa40
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHW5fetZRRR
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSiuAIzYweC
which was for the good of everyone. 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA8FUNJwFuR
They’d gotten a little rowdy,
if you know what I mean—
of course you do.
Doesn’t everyone?
I’d gotten separated from my date, 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuHgPAJ8rhY
the shadow, 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTvdaK1itTc
in the chaos, 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3ffPoXkqt
so I sat next to a little old lady910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSii5Jg02OF
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6ftZV1Mlv
It did get more interesting, too, and910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6RGwh9rU5
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLKcdFa3Vi
that the shadow had gotten left behind.910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7tZwPF38Zl
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8tWV53xoS
which may have been short for something else,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLntaFZoQ9
and her grandson as Other Demons910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREEeix1IeY
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnpnnzZxuAh
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtyGFydyNAK
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMCZkR3IHKL
or something.910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXkhcbK0Is
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZjvvpKwvc8
and to be honest I was unsure of what to do.
I began to realise why they’d been sitting a little apart from the others.
Over the course of the night, I remembered my grandma’s advice.910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYnc4azIee
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDfgbGBYRt
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPceTW0S30t
you know, get to know them a bit.910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVXbipuL8V
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCBB3UEfigZ
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0VuL81N5sr
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgKr4DV97bV
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNcX7cCi08T
You’re welcome to come around sometime,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwjws76ZCcj
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvgwMqxAx7x
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6a3lxuQrtx
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBF6zYVTo7A
and went back to their home, 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzfF8AIleIF
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAEtjew6Cwv
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1uPhGwuMdg
to feast on some lonely children910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj6UbTOM7ED
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu1SVdCy9TG
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFSPJa9sSVW
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7JbnapxJlG
between a battered Toyota 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwGg7fknXRB
and a hulking four wheel drive.910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhnpPLoP8mY
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgjg5k9pgZa
up and down office buildings,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡymHjw1SJFC
through the desert,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUATeohJXF7
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXiDyzelSl
across a river, 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNTaOm8P30
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCVyryKGTnO
of my suburban house.910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzibKtjAWy
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz2wrF5qXXa
and fell asleep on an old white mattress910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgkEAflgZ6O
under a fading southern cross.910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4JIa7rwn1
Happy Australia Day910Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6dgHlyIpJB
