I took a shadow out on a date last night. 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDck5etFDE9
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7n1bMaoGyc
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxSMMUlgkC
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7suKrRAF5
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡydz5P4fWYW
blurry silhouette1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDbw8yBeq2
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbuSAsivsC
after staring at a bright light.1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySXzRHI6tU
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqJ4fxm6Ke
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6hGDQdJC94
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWzpniMScM
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3K0MgBdgez
blotchy green and purple,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHq4QMdsIVo
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiR0uHpXHaG
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpQy5etaHe
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmPbT20p0N
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvsSwrYpumU
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7PNj520UYj
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikAQJ1fe1w
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3yVqp9AHZw
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlfXjAU9B1f
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUzLFQPBpP
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC9xIFeq2C4
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpBmiTHQ9pF
which was for the good of everyone. 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJIwdAVl25V
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, 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaMLHUL1e8c
the shadow, 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdde5exuoDn
in the chaos, 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTHwHkthIrW
so I sat next to a little old lady1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0l1CajB7X
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUU2QQW9MNr
It did get more interesting, too, and1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9aix5BxuQB
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBPhuulqxbr
that the shadow had gotten left behind.1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhqglSFmh9
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1T3xz4E04
which may have been short for something else,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudGaCcV40M
and her grandson as Other Demons1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2l2ZhtlXEP
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUdvoBcnRXP
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNk8QNAkmKp
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIp1PtRVBd
or something.1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuMxSN88Kry
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDrdpbL4bAf
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.1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Nwk9cgHqw
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiFXfvrLYG
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0DgFZggx50
you know, get to know them a bit.1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI0JxNRP1bw
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5WWy2ki0G
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YGDzFOGga
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3VkIXrSu1h
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYAXdVCWzzm
You’re welcome to come around sometime,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0mQp0pKy2
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzx10DiTxYH
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoFShocTFyV
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5ZMNZecr0
and went back to their home, 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXt2t3Iqz7H
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡatpXfoEi5A
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQCYNtTfVJq
to feast on some lonely children1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7NU9kRin2
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCC8d9sjzqV
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxvxFGOWfC
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftDXBmawIL
between a battered Toyota 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGls9MPmkP8
and a hulking four wheel drive.1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHDkMvQK2e
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmi3jPz1Lb
up and down office buildings,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7S6nFVGpd
through the desert,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdV61RNNdl
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4320ne1ZuK
across a river, 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqMOQfTNMw
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvOGepHl4mc
of my suburban house.1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6aBmDyyuu
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLnoUvIEAH
and fell asleep on an old white mattress1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxbCZYrM75
under a fading southern cross.1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWFFSVe0mE
Happy Australia Day1043Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzcXfzHTMFX
