I took a shadow out on a date last night. 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDRkEYt5Ch
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWBUTkyZtKl
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCALA4G8fx
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx4OrEfNFu0
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZvyCUc6TKP
blurry silhouette1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM5PAo2c1dz
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYNhyev94SQ
after staring at a bright light.1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboGC2aUDmN
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3J5AsWH2Rw
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdU5aLUiydh
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNGF0IsLY7C
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2wjVVUdXU
blotchy green and purple,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdVgpzJAHG4
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGxPtgUtv1
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogNNG5kDij
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUCnKmfrHza
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1Wh6aXuog
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKP3Y6s7j6R
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFFh3guogB
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwNgIy3qg7I
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo3BlmovJzc
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYXb6DUK1y
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYG6WB7Xwu5
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrMexktdBC
which was for the good of everyone. 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2pyJMPMAM
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, 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYiF9MnTiut
the shadow, 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4r6orPWeg
in the chaos, 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuGN32PguNU
so I sat next to a little old lady1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkYr039L7Yx
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzxAeBZF9Og
It did get more interesting, too, and1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXFm5vfrs7K
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Ly88QWfhr
that the shadow had gotten left behind.1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquf5eMu3RU
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWouKacBMm
which may have been short for something else,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNBY3wc6UIH
and her grandson as Other Demons1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKfowJybEV
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8uJK9rrC1J
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs4kPVgrg9O
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHoyfrMO5U
or something.1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡywIZ6ykUdf
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3sVSfPvBqL
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.1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMSWDeJIfwv
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡszkdnIYKTT
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx7qUreB3RG
you know, get to know them a bit.1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZMtica3nJE
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNmWXaqnh7i
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TW0WO7Iag
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgReTJID6KX
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuU4Q6U4Q0m
You’re welcome to come around sometime,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxvx4RYTIBy
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvHNYHzJZtE
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhIuDteTf4F
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNclpdumCB
and went back to their home, 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJiaL78PR1
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAPSdaQnx0
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhfdgEVfwwc
to feast on some lonely children1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnSklktmOeZ
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtDeWxFpxc
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJ3Rd1zRXM
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6TClaVNMHJ
between a battered Toyota 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6JhD8O1Nc
and a hulking four wheel drive.1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQ91NeuZvW
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgku6xW9rfB
up and down office buildings,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2VzCXMBqg
through the desert,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7tS7v1WpSn
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRxIvDeTuG4
across a river, 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdxuJleAu3F
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm40PciUiT3
of my suburban house.1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbAViosUccg
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlucWb80YUS
and fell asleep on an old white mattress1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUTYqcMcXx
under a fading southern cross.1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOa2BGYlvz
Happy Australia Day1013Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhHjrlh7qI
