I took a shadow out on a date last night. 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7JpSZjfslp
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6kO8vQyRPO
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbZRhDdf8tC
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgZmnt6HPp
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCOU6SuUWKO
blurry silhouette1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFO40fchQH2
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTAfQlBcOCJ
after staring at a bright light.1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvFg3jyoqLl
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYWFSNPrB8
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwG1EWEVtBF
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxR2km2YA9k
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfDR2bueAT
blotchy green and purple,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXNjrr0eSm
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7A7V7UC2uh
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFVBLrazOa
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx9ZPNZbMNt
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXLgrNSVtE
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtFcg2YzgV1
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPm2bfbtwIm
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaysDR3LK5a
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGYGKyibmue
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTwsjMChAY6
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7EaGXFxb3Y
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYC2CwGpbOf
which was for the good of everyone. 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2sVRSUSUEr
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, 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbVpV5qrgD
the shadow, 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQukOyd9lxe
in the chaos, 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT8j4uCoAc2
so I sat next to a little old lady1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqKjGgvjzGq
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc1eV9o6YCy
It did get more interesting, too, and1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4VJ4dcAwli
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1sDZMqmV9o
that the shadow had gotten left behind.1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxN2oyiUvr
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVecM2wODd
which may have been short for something else,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRtwJi9ZcB
and her grandson as Other Demons1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxx1TtD5MP0
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0sPPdMGUj3
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuKELFYeqCt
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa2C06nFZSa
or something.1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfwNzYcSvC
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡryWzTJ2jdz
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.1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvE1ffFIu3m
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT662MVB2v8
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkrpVdCChz
you know, get to know them a bit.1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWnv4d7kKcY
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuuhmTrTkB
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzWhAJi831
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fXXw4CN8X
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiZh86FsBD
You’re welcome to come around sometime,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4bXELrL2VN
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYWIAnIr53
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdxAcZ1Jb4
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZ57dsWenQ
and went back to their home, 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOHOUEuPaY
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSV8oLe44tK
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9xOMWI58pr
to feast on some lonely children1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjlbBRZ45BQ
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrrwNsPTbV
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsawRLMYDx4
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMKf79jpxaQ
between a battered Toyota 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrWqJseMNHP
and a hulking four wheel drive.1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7JxAiuC3u
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ272qJSMHa
up and down office buildings,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmSnor7akz
through the desert,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2D1zkQBqKS
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBYRP5nKVM
across a river, 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSbP1U1XBXg
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyMms4B0Z4
of my suburban house.1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQPaSDNUjU
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv17qzqUCLf
and fell asleep on an old white mattress1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCbsKQQhe2
under a fading southern cross.1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXaY2JHWpC6
Happy Australia Day1040Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YQfIWHAPP
