I took a shadow out on a date last night. 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUUmqUcI8d
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwzv3ypl24
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4OIP9ogA53
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3RoiLtr5j
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphMGzYY5uC
blurry silhouette985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcU6P3hCxs
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSos7LPCTde
after staring at a bright light.985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRP83NJFCe
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYO5enNguBI
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLgCfAAoBZ4
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡluwFzWnqBT
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyto0GiNwf
blotchy green and purple,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvCgwuve5aA
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9uDY8ffiV
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2N66WHnhXo
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMhk6MraDL
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkagTpxaUEl
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWkSdA2gwb
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEL3mLRsMx8
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmXrIHlXzv
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrAWFbttTYr
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGRushdrQnp
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcVB4ZlEgfp
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwqQNoXGR1t
which was for the good of everyone. 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVUyBCFufdi
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, 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF6umRmSp0l
the shadow, 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUmGuanpmwB
in the chaos, 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0mBHw2SGh
so I sat next to a little old lady985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz2hcJaFvBR
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsrLRFcInB
It did get more interesting, too, and985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFVGURZ1lr
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3gZ3MVIIZU
that the shadow had gotten left behind.985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3HuoNUzxmD
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5fu9NQKpG
which may have been short for something else,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXiQ8iSm3lU
and her grandson as Other Demons985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7quAKpLiuM
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclIJD1lfUX
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJgGU6u3lbE
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ031wsEFl8r
or something.985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYl25XPekw
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRl5nf0pmUI
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.985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSusMZZ63My
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxkmkdFlTl
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCespF4bLRu
you know, get to know them a bit.985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSrIxtkt7q
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyAmfKNNYI5
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZ7I6I82PU
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBjhIlqqJj
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAgIfmr2yj
You’re welcome to come around sometime,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFh2F3kQ316
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIli0R6Wpa
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZelWdRhmp4
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBU2RQj6rh
and went back to their home, 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPeUGddWxqc
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6FuqiMnzc
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLdWMA3g2c
to feast on some lonely children985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KZ05F1JBt
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1UMGhr8lkC
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtOFcYzURn
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLAAh185yF
between a battered Toyota 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx5jveKM6ti
and a hulking four wheel drive.985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqoCSnsCLm
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15F6j2tJ1r
up and down office buildings,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNG3nKdHQbZ
through the desert,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SRhLtTNWq
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8j1OSP8y29
across a river, 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8M7Lq8WnDL
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH95lDD0TK0
of my suburban house.985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSGv7lJ6Yw
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPiyEH6X6Xz
and fell asleep on an old white mattress985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoN7Wpht50t
under a fading southern cross.985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuyVW926aD
Happy Australia Day985Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4HCeHhHLJE
