I took a shadow out on a date last night. 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡitb20mVJJX
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsF7tk6i3Gh
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDUaoPpHy0
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQhknnlg83
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5XDbFCigiU
blurry silhouette997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0mDlwuHxL
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuyQOK5AiCC
after staring at a bright light.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIx7T0pipSQ
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCuddGw7AG
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWz8SGBIEHf
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVYlW35jzZ
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5sd0gvRlyy
blotchy green and purple,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFD8XgDS7h4
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVwOJwtBQLE
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2853qLojF
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2OMr2fjp6L
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRo4mbiwkSv
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKuAWKPOu3
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡspJiQLacXs
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFoMnDYtf0R
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYBL7QpW9O
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHN8seKx8Mp
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5wycuy5hP
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLe7DoyHc49
which was for the good of everyone. 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUnHnbpp7e
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, 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJhJbMZppR
the shadow, 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8QO7XoDZx
in the chaos, 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡemuhpkqfI3
so I sat next to a little old lady997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2dTgsz4yJ
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOIOxJcWpbQ
It did get more interesting, too, and997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnovPCbXDH2
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBA4qfqMsEi
that the shadow had gotten left behind.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgTwyA9NMtt
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlyU81ncSYL
which may have been short for something else,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlpF8P3PiYu
and her grandson as Other Demons997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyhgOY91Gi
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiipg44NoOY
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFSooItopjX
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjImFJB2lD2
or something.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVy1VpgABcC
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTI9eCACh29
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.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu52hjKqlIH
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJLR35BmMk
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxOkDeFfUWC
you know, get to know them a bit.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3n7sTzOAZL
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkAzaEbkM3E
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn43wZITZnR
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJt1KEbaJY
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaL1GC6he0G
You’re welcome to come around sometime,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlF9NK9aesZ
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3k6zvwP798
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKBjLDxSTn
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFncGl9SjWj
and went back to their home, 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgCdFxCmUbm
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC8yPN1hXr3
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMfUTqrugc
to feast on some lonely children997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCtpUT55ip5
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKafLufPeZ
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISmr3vtJp0
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTlMAkjdz9
between a battered Toyota 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLx7vuVCP9L
and a hulking four wheel drive.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8XxGS1yuo4
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcfreKAoFD
up and down office buildings,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4DU1QaeCa
through the desert,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxpf7n55DAW
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyJzpRrVRu
across a river, 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwnrVcNYm9S
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5dJvNxArG4
of my suburban house.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX75UO0k28G
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNl5RnCmIg
and fell asleep on an old white mattress997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvTSzZ4atjo
under a fading southern cross.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOAwjH44l5
Happy Australia Day997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXbCUZCoTbW
