I took a shadow out on a date last night. 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLQ5qDru00
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR6A4dr49od
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ev4t8Fadx
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ4oXyJwOMz
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2EtEvUmABV
blurry silhouette1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjq2KI9xSsG
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZvcpfT8NED
after staring at a bright light.1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTTpngo7FMA
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWk415iJpZQ
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVxGkspFgyW
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6aKchzTT2t
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZM3YXkIhy0
blotchy green and purple,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRn5oEbTuzl
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJqsmdTI9f
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRut8dBly0
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnPd8UW8xlu
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJVpiyo66y
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhU1j3zjNr7
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb8oJUObjvv
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmuOeLUNX2B
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgrWIN1XaRh
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVvOKmgBQOc
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTb94ISyqH5
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfPZVk0IYSs
which was for the good of everyone. 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjeJyYdRKjs
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, 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvgtKlJI18
the shadow, 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtlRT6uQDNh
in the chaos, 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPenk5wUHr
so I sat next to a little old lady1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2cYDdsQfO
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJCHl72z3k
It did get more interesting, too, and1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOuCva3aaxd
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQiGubJ8qxw
that the shadow had gotten left behind.1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRufGWKrPaS
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkmQ3A7UJI
which may have been short for something else,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhsP4i1FdTh
and her grandson as Other Demons1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzPqOm41Wm
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1wTBrdfOS
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9QRCNRsC6L
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0Vl7ozqsI
or something.1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAby8mL4atF
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVz5D3LKLe
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.1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotBTAoQZd2
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegtj6mj9lZ
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIFcnMc6M6U
you know, get to know them a bit.1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7XpiLyQh3
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlhH8biJCN
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnMuQKPKN9
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhhL9z6mQd
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HhvICsMep
You’re welcome to come around sometime,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZuliCwRBA
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QhLr9J4C0
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQZl1wZUiZs
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj8XyMWJLfM
and went back to their home, 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcFtfAcA3v
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJR64ScnvG
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjOy3fbfMvE
to feast on some lonely children1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBrF6GVkLbv
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqsel0KCqN
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX337lRpD3z
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYdyyUdTuv
between a battered Toyota 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH8AWhuQnMX
and a hulking four wheel drive.1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxy2oMkomdK
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtpciYa4AQx
up and down office buildings,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWP3u34sDv
through the desert,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ483eOi1J4S
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGbC2dCUdm
across a river, 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg86jMny4QP
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEAJHL76ar
of my suburban house.1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuh6Vdio2mK
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI3ZOSPECOd
and fell asleep on an old white mattress1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjxAYWD5KKg
under a fading southern cross.1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3trFf3DZpk
Happy Australia Day1044Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡumKnr65Upx
