I took a shadow out on a date last night. 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaL14yfNwRk
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5AZflYUiiQ
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7EAxezmjXW
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtIArFHjz5r
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfgeboFWSs9
blurry silhouette1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK00PlGgahc
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGFGdOKPQO
after staring at a bright light.1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuwf9MzL6f
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI0AVhrMfOs
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU4mdHEswL8
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWRQLpsBFQ
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyd4cVwW08
blotchy green and purple,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFIM9dqMsC7
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dREtnjHam
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7FAK9ac6tc
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbOKtKlxtHa
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGFTIOK6zhe
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7Bnt8cfvx
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDrgWnwrTpY
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6K0f7aXxZ
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9kPuyeSM4l
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1OMHyZQoO
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1DUbGxnlQm
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhVRHcOi4Fq
which was for the good of everyone. 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36ZOGsj8NM
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, 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2G7la5CCwr
the shadow, 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEf8tKlNN1Z
in the chaos, 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfMTOqNxCi
so I sat next to a little old lady1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy3wh93HYwa
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlS4pjpvAaa
It did get more interesting, too, and1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCESkeefsGI
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCAeWcxycJ
that the shadow had gotten left behind.1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdSfmELxKU7
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPdSQZaeIcX
which may have been short for something else,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30qh7FD9hj
and her grandson as Other Demons1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfoOuIIxpgP
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6O3OOlcWQv
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUU6ENP1cyD
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXT7bmRa4s
or something.1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWJ8cairim
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4URwzrdUW
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.1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxwx7FNozDt
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkct5QIro9d
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkf8AYFWuy3
you know, get to know them a bit.1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGxQizMaoLi
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxHucCIaykW
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIbbFKIgGD
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVbd1Ceg1S
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcphjbcXvv6
You’re welcome to come around sometime,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4luxKWWF1z
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ39IKhR6Ozd
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ69NFyWI5JQ
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfOWsT52W1
and went back to their home, 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjqY1ojsNw
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1jXBlXXI2
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPtdao4bMG
to feast on some lonely children1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8l0OoNVsTU
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvveKNtb9Qa
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9p3FfRCVOK
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGiiX1Xa5Q
between a battered Toyota 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeVfbNNW6vT
and a hulking four wheel drive.1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdKxXWmdOW
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SBqf8ZNpD
up and down office buildings,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnO5iCqxw2E
through the desert,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhLK62Uedja
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvP0O2chLc
across a river, 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmbUlpz9v4J
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkFhgy1CGTY
of my suburban house.1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rjWe0xTOw
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMR6SNWmtHe
and fell asleep on an old white mattress1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2NmJiW8cid
under a fading southern cross.1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3fPvege9C
Happy Australia Day1087Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0SgZutCmB2
