I took a shadow out on a date last night. 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaWAFcG8heV
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULJk78jjk8
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSWbFBRwSd
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaMwt2JlADB
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkbp9INmtZE
blurry silhouette1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8hrX22awtd
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31NIGlsA1X
after staring at a bright light.1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqP6Yf2L2I
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqybIcWgpQh
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhTWdxoM3hh
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1TGpfwxXE
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFsgZoypPG
blotchy green and purple,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVH1nhz0It
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ZVkLKh8Ve
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJHEhZgM9q
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN1oTrsvRja
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqLT4D1sIZ
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBNli5ceAU
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoIuwY8wwa
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU8nfqHDM89
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEC4UfBT6E
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMsR8SJ9I5
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKxJmLrrY0
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrgHeMEsXIg
which was for the good of everyone. 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4warnobldB
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, 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMtcBmeKRx1
the shadow, 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRnq8DPp6H
in the chaos, 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlmKqENLUj
so I sat next to a little old lady1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1j4DdJDZ4
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5H7ysURQR1
It did get more interesting, too, and1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQ0lcXDYQ2
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1scXiwU5El
that the shadow had gotten left behind.1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uO9aelqnw
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKD30q72Ov
which may have been short for something else,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBUF0gwFFI
and her grandson as Other Demons1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNABdxFgBC
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNEclRdXDB8
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZeDvwCPnqg
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtteIDnsgTR
or something.1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQ7JYky7ra
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP42jI06ll4
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.1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVwejGRmqS
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQHre31uPLB
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wgdUFFir1
you know, get to know them a bit.1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR6blaOMuir
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7vdvEnYxiy
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFU1rMBNrQ
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzqLjzeSi3
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWCglb5zEz
You’re welcome to come around sometime,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMV3dhYsay3
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYw0iWiJQ26
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOjiftXFSbF
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPToTRdlpru
and went back to their home, 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq72NOHvhy2
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrrnkClvXjZ
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv41WszADWj
to feast on some lonely children1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7kMryseo2
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡov3AGftHrF
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNaVow0Sydb
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtlrRDEYQh
between a battered Toyota 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGe8a8fVpE3
and a hulking four wheel drive.1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ08Vba8mQ2m
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15Gf6jibfk
up and down office buildings,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSZM6MHI77
through the desert,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEiA6LaxACP
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNLDD1ZB3g
across a river, 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQud38VgTC7
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7w7gNyKwbz
of my suburban house.1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEMNmKsZA60
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhD3DlHQHrk
and fell asleep on an old white mattress1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLx2BNDQY5A
under a fading southern cross.1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPFQWvIdAz
Happy Australia Day1060Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdThAmXkny
