I took a shadow out on a date last night. 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLzK6eAF29T
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFMd9zyFgT7
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojuCKqnY1g
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLEYfzYlaif
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkwMsFjPXC
blurry silhouette912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ88hUySq8Qc
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCW8fYOc2it
after staring at a bright light.912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpaBj9L0HVv
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZfC0k9jEn
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWGUKQfuqf
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYWSvuMaBF
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZ9gD6wRi6
blotchy green and purple,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOP00wjLRu
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9lDo8Hf7mE
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0goyITg2jH
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAnskwMmV4t
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKeoWtSHrq
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Z1PgfGePS
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4RTYXoNb6p
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSPCEQUZKv
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9iHcZwtCUf
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIVgAiaqM6
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS7UMSXdVPd
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFt4JeFV8O
which was for the good of everyone. 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡexC5tb9wKU
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, 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUmLhpsB3qG
the shadow, 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM5byVMIjtF
in the chaos, 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfPHXgeb0V7
so I sat next to a little old lady912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy4c3QjJ4kz
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ98UWPiHi6w
It did get more interesting, too, and912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3aOZkVjkI
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Bh5gfRDN0
that the shadow had gotten left behind.912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDW8tvvTUIo
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaY32kQ35HX
which may have been short for something else,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrUTGUoHd67
and her grandson as Other Demons912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdFaBSO7t1W
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN2I67b7P7o
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBrFPoD2SR
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMYViqSz5e
or something.912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9BoMzCJxdh
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVa8ba55LAY
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.912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3JGwXRoSe
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3HY5tU90bE
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxc6CK5Jaa
you know, get to know them a bit.912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCBveNMjCwM
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiH5j3xdQSC
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyNDWPqKOxQ
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVAnCD9nHXD
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsNn0xONtUw
You’re welcome to come around sometime,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUIiiOd2vG
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgjIVUQubxs
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7PWQmjJbV
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZlIOdDAaW
and went back to their home, 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡab183NRfPN
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDHteg6dD7
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9g7W4zn74L
to feast on some lonely children912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqKH3GGTxCo
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoXdKPJq5ns
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5xoQYzSnSl
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX8tbtMWwcb
between a battered Toyota 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJTctm1EWQc
and a hulking four wheel drive.912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCFm1ta5j76
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoATW7eWsm
up and down office buildings,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4VjoYDeoQ3
through the desert,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9SDHITAGcd
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVc8WqOLMj
across a river, 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGj29WM1MP
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThBLnkhVwA
of my suburban house.912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvE7mPQ4l3F
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9V5dhoOc68
and fell asleep on an old white mattress912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7nR3JFrht
under a fading southern cross.912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcnzMVOf2k
Happy Australia Day912Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8BkzWOFxz
