I took a shadow out on a date last night. 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXCorIB8Vy
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcT1IdI2xAX
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtc195E5W1
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm8QcWtL0AO
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡznQw0Jn6gS
blurry silhouette1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh20K12vktP
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJWrA4ZZIOr
after staring at a bright light.1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNkr11omJ4x
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCyjM7l9VE5
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoq9jLMeA7P
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4L2Bu7umuk
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgcPTBCIQjC
blotchy green and purple,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkABlwoM4h
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGnwJnD1ugv
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9jo5mSg6l7
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡywrA3kEjvG
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNR96MSCRO3
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRfT8PG0nk
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcWeYQsA6Yz
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrkOMorCtqP
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxBQrGr48z
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0DGhtUIv3W
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyb73zQyZkc
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWBRmjQvhDM
which was for the good of everyone. 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXf8kx1lZbW
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, 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhkuKWC2PK4
the shadow, 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZI5ckWyMUj
in the chaos, 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9xx7DDuc1
so I sat next to a little old lady1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNKfJZVUXmg
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOcGpRv6ha
It did get more interesting, too, and1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zWm0ZbUsC
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjT9ECrAl0
that the shadow had gotten left behind.1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsdqDM120N8
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6k9Vc7aNL
which may have been short for something else,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3y07oXSrr
and her grandson as Other Demons1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSILHDh8LPs
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGs4AxDyAxs
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTksqZd81bK
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZr3jrt1HhL
or something.1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWQBGT9J6W
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BNEjOHSWn
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.1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzyka7pEsDw
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrGqRqAAfvO
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkC4k9K3JLa
you know, get to know them a bit.1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9NHLPPhg0
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8T9mb9aT1o
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeOJ4S1907B
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoiofBLQHJ9
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWvOldfadp
You’re welcome to come around sometime,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnObEORE3wL
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5bgNS3cIo
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYuA6lruCEN
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE4hFHQHEdW
and went back to their home, 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmYYh9ftxK
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡya5MZaSzLC
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZvFdRbjuM
to feast on some lonely children1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TbgNSntuu
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAzPb0Rw4M
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaThZA8Z62J
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkyQoBLambG
between a battered Toyota 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqyqaqZfzR
and a hulking four wheel drive.1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxtPqYBlYt
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYQw7aAWZE
up and down office buildings,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxtPPFCjQi
through the desert,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ83r7ext3yw
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKwvDsMMcn
across a river, 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeXNIAiv2Z
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlcFfzGWzH
of my suburban house.1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡROILZ1kf8g
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrA3g1qLs3R
and fell asleep on an old white mattress1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3Y9Tgi091
under a fading southern cross.1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc84ZY76t4h
Happy Australia Day1104Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrwn7aeRNA
