I took a shadow out on a date last night. 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxFtU8Hyko
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUj845mM08X
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbFo7H3B6dy
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIsGhRgfyMI
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb417Fugmip
blurry silhouette911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzPvaIQAgh
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCtrR2CoNWf
after staring at a bright light.911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx32JDbg3HH
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5EzGRepvph
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6stmnKByuv
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYSwjctRYBa
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO1g3kU65bd
blotchy green and purple,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZUwoofpv3h
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlMLAwGpQnn
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrYwpnMyBfc
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHz0NC8UNWF
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfMLpLCBMH
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUYygUnRZou
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3iiwOfmc6
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaNaXGfLPlf
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeY3TKZwo4x
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGd9WCOh626
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJN1iKk6Qx
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7XYJFIJV0
which was for the good of everyone. 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHfubkBxjVh
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, 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLEFboZ1rwJ
the shadow, 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAtYs65qz4
in the chaos, 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtwysPZwCUK
so I sat next to a little old lady911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wMYJOh2YU
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3mK1FoyL3m
It did get more interesting, too, and911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQYO6jRMa3
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqD3jC5niQC
that the shadow had gotten left behind.911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7b4m1Yldnt
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5cXOa07JGq
which may have been short for something else,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡys3sOErmIi
and her grandson as Other Demons911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4aw4MJvfQL
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJFENT5zC4
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejfHSl1ZOD
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfllFEfWuO7
or something.911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmvkSmh99PH
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPEhtO28GO
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.911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxOPmYZFpo
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZRMSe9nmSZ
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCfjcwMsMDc
you know, get to know them a bit.911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNQ7GJaACE
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZuQODPi4n9
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUBHXXvYdc
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RPzMgDPIb
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡECjFpaAMka
You’re welcome to come around sometime,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKIGHK51rH
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzL5zcWGtjX
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV57rzWGmRw
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0lnr0dLgC
and went back to their home, 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaaVYZJgNkO
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqx2UaMEOno
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp4IDtOnEGa
to feast on some lonely children911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZf7rXMK1CV
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTzPATZ0gZR
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvz6FMX7Zze
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqLVN28Jk7
between a battered Toyota 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVY91VERopm
and a hulking four wheel drive.911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvDx9w4Df7j
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTkSPekuIB8
up and down office buildings,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡonAjvegLeL
through the desert,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JmVtxhZa3
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI4dDO7n3kU
across a river, 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE5yTQuB5AS
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Ce9m9iLKw
of my suburban house.911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡalF1T7DO6i
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb2i7j7NOEF
and fell asleep on an old white mattress911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYXotSTBUB
under a fading southern cross.911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpW15V4ILoV
Happy Australia Day911Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2bF793pSdg
