I took a shadow out on a date last night. 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqh3hlWPGgv
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQ4hzUCjl8
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmwUDzF7Qf5
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiy8u9i3gzZ
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJkGUpDI9V
blurry silhouette1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQq0F1vLh9
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVyu20OjEU
after staring at a bright light.1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3QT4reKwXW
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmeqsNxWJD
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRw59sifYn
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ytie4r3dq
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRTIvY56ns
blotchy green and purple,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0OCmhadk8
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡae0eD9hNKF
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5PnHABrj5h
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyoMhOjPpBF
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡesEZXX3fHH
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGagDG0ZDlR
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwQE3YJb71g
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7cE8KC7GO
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvJDpQnYmT
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87pC4wm43P
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFPa7Ovr4Ki
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4yb1EUB8B
which was for the good of everyone. 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxFN9LnNd1
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, 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBk3a7nJMMb
the shadow, 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv4p9hSEdCN
in the chaos, 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ98PkmFOyzs
so I sat next to a little old lady1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOaOtNr5K00
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3CyPBOMXJM
It did get more interesting, too, and1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbRv8Kt42jm
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Ns9r3y8vG
that the shadow had gotten left behind.1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3M2RjKAXWG
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡily8GEKbJQ
which may have been short for something else,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUC0ACH7ZVL
and her grandson as Other Demons1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPEl0wcFcjV
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ2poJqKZo7
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjL0jEYAALf
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IlID6GI4x
or something.1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4MhrDz9IFl
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQnUFu3crC
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.1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw36e3xSyDw
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHoOXFBxwr
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8bv4iZ9LIg
you know, get to know them a bit.1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLpRlOEWtep
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfb2AdpfYH5
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAT5iLeQAYA
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDimr2MvPC
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGu2697IwMh
You’re welcome to come around sometime,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89iARkK3RT
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJjYM6UDRg
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYgTktDcTGF
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMpnfiL94wb
and went back to their home, 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ32MiYgi0qO
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPyxQoUwGl
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdKLaDyi5E
to feast on some lonely children1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUaCuuTLP2q
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu7wQLXxqns
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXlc8KRapDs
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovQp76qly0
between a battered Toyota 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaHmeAIXgUW
and a hulking four wheel drive.1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6rKSDgBXxD
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3A5N6Rq1Vf
up and down office buildings,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTwJogfCKcK
through the desert,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvuMnng2Fp0
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd877xyQYoa
across a river, 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ha0kuhS7u
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUI53ZYr72U
of my suburban house.1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmukuSknfCi
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkljJBSIEPK
and fell asleep on an old white mattress1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefxV83mBsS
under a fading southern cross.1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdplhIh1IQH
Happy Australia Day1006Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19N46LTKb1
