I took a shadow out on a date last night. 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0ZrmO2voU
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYnRoWtM7xo
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwVtBKP0qk
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡItTKcaoei4
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwMqmsvvgQF
blurry silhouette955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqO6SXlo1cM
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSJuLW5wg0
after staring at a bright light.955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNc1oETKn7A
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuHoVYfaN9K
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIGvyAumdx
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmfmi9JORI
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBON14MLfOI
blotchy green and purple,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEKOuZda77V
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdWnP6im1w
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnpBhJdDYIP
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf00IVMWkk1
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf2MYa8lsi7
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqooUo5ZmtD
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjqYLKXbvA
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiw41wnJEN2
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJPmpawiXF
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRYkEGFvNTJ
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB0QFldgptr
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9BRVjZL6Yx
which was for the good of everyone. 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoqEBqwjYOg
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, 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLNRL1nPgcO
the shadow, 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFU1uLlrUe
in the chaos, 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9eTvpuEa6T
so I sat next to a little old lady955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQbtMBmI6w
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRq96kTyW3I
It did get more interesting, too, and955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSIWzWZHNm
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSEzCRdflbP
that the shadow had gotten left behind.955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRUkbxo45M
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhTT0M5LcJz
which may have been short for something else,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡINSqBsfiwf
and her grandson as Other Demons955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJVXV9kSUL
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HtfB2hGlF
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFvRlGS3xOI
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lI0OyDpBu
or something.955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbVNDkFjRMc
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYKGfyaI3H
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.955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmhliABMu0
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqKiqFwtt4Q
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGSOKDPmGN
you know, get to know them a bit.955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeNl5s28Bd
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnhrUHEhNN
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH8h2dWLkxo
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYp6elG9aXs
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91ceaUYZV7
You’re welcome to come around sometime,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRjMnO5zpmY
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMt3PrldnXp
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4ZVHjwcgy
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTz6sZNOJTz
and went back to their home, 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNHzC7lCdj
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFMT4a80SE
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLic7P6OAfd
to feast on some lonely children955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNq3PBloq1
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxNSY3Pm9g
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDXUZkdT7eb
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFm3XHN9WZH
between a battered Toyota 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNajeDB7bq
and a hulking four wheel drive.955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3pcj8b43H
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJROmrT172x
up and down office buildings,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR4BQOn3TIh
through the desert,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSjVW7I9CA
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVTDyy1oH3
across a river, 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt9zwLieDlv
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnu7FAR779p
of my suburban house.955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqT0O5R0XL
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhWYWk44kc
and fell asleep on an old white mattress955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv4l9VWWMpn
under a fading southern cross.955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5CFAinvNbS
Happy Australia Day955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWagqbNMm8D
