I took a shadow out on a date last night. 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBoDRNRB4Y0
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJpah2B6P2
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMWM5YiEXs
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8IQ2rIAOE5
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojyhIqW4BT
blurry silhouette1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOoUMDiCiBa
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Kr8KsmAJ1
after staring at a bright light.1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRzCU1hJpCO
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT5If3gKJjS
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5wx4oKA0Y
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfBQaLwRaEq
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG9I0leL5He
blotchy green and purple,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL1qhrf95F4
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPft6x6FxS
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkXwI9NWwE
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyRRVXwynf
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHaAkR49Q8e
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfTpx8wwPy9
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXMUMrkaBL
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOTNrvUaAj
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFDx3z73i6
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftnEf07lI1
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNar4InUZGs
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3BRB9zKpcr
which was for the good of everyone. 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKkrSJgNSjk
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, 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5C1aWVdtDf
the shadow, 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtQRF3L7gw
in the chaos, 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6YWTb4x63X
so I sat next to a little old lady1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1KSi3FSrM
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeBeslRZhaH
It did get more interesting, too, and1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevgyyIIbts
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCbhJPaJ0Ba
that the shadow had gotten left behind.1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4I6XmjV47L
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjEqUFwQYW
which may have been short for something else,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASthwp6x8L
and her grandson as Other Demons1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbdc8jan6fU
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2a8ktYiEiu
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQpw27RnZay
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOp2NP3Ohxu
or something.1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3p93tnMbs
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfqjmW5lXR
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.1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMTeUSFE6j
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITcK9mhVzB
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGpD9teaBkw
you know, get to know them a bit.1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXnRa3DfQd
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9ivYJHqc1
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfABnDBCG07
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡssxQwOpLGb
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRkRC1PclL
You’re welcome to come around sometime,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV6ZQN4pm5m
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ72Qm9fVN0S
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvPF0FxHfX
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjp8hR94FBX
and went back to their home, 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaF2HAtYhgv
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP2zvgG6Ae3
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJPtyd1ToGP
to feast on some lonely children1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOPqo0h34N
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdtnJTPCba
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6reyoXYjXe
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNIIT2UFbGX
between a battered Toyota 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAcuzDLfC3X
and a hulking four wheel drive.1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ObPtfESeU
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJcyG0HdyvM
up and down office buildings,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUgAk9l9pTR
through the desert,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡukq2RxkTxw
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtl1kjksnIA
across a river, 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡionTx0teao
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzJThNCCGoK
of my suburban house.1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb4OGGK1A9D
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpQgpyLQwx
and fell asleep on an old white mattress1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGc6aLZtZF
under a fading southern cross.1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡveO3BptUfZ
Happy Australia Day1064Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkuCmk4OMY5
