I took a shadow out on a date last night. 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBywMaXVOgU
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrMpqwP9QE
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZG45nntmdZ
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYOPQpp7kw
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCdEgQxY1ud
blurry silhouette965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpboeeoUEH
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJX0KN984cv
after staring at a bright light.965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFEAaoUU6nG
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtpB6k9BlbS
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6LVADqUT0v
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBAWsVk8X9
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk6xrWSnkWL
blotchy green and purple,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpxAz4WwBl
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Q3G9MAb9o
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN79vA1M7Be
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyopp5D28JL
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRONXzWChl
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXI0dfM8Ms
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxzJWXYlj0o
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOu77fgPphQ
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbvGPwDlYc
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMF0hCzwywg
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1XkBED1Vpo
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKFahiuYPV
which was for the good of everyone. 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kGdl5dTZe
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, 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVKK15KMkOr
the shadow, 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi4cY0tO38V
in the chaos, 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKy4xv09N3E
so I sat next to a little old lady965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJiwJRILdU
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2LFLiaVTlL
It did get more interesting, too, and965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZslSnWyIi
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVqCcUjhoT
that the shadow had gotten left behind.965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1zfL87lgA
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRiYwwWTdl5
which may have been short for something else,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZaW4szQVu
and her grandson as Other Demons965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmaGJQbOnU9
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSzTL9kbJGr
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDY32iHw8Xy
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNkkNC1Li1
or something.965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc675ohXEdn
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdKTglfnUq
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.965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXUfr1RlB2
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnAA31UYj9
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWIofh1SEd
you know, get to know them a bit.965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeDjmIY8cG
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfydiopDM33
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTZw22daXd
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpqBtSVkS2t
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQI558Ef80l
You’re welcome to come around sometime,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxUVN6ZiR5
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Vr5SLRfio
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKwSk2VPHT
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMeK8CfX1jC
and went back to their home, 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡArKSDS0iiK
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIn2WjTdpqB
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIE2unbzn7j
to feast on some lonely children965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpefgflcy7c
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOCfUMs4x3
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZMaFa1ylSf
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8NMLox9t62
between a battered Toyota 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5neaaLEzg
and a hulking four wheel drive.965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtHtPvkmGV
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAtJq2mpsY
up and down office buildings,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDTrcaZNsq
through the desert,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwozEvukdXg
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxbeZ8Hp6G3
across a river, 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAlChaPNXcT
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBVihKwlU5G
of my suburban house.965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPU9Ea6JGlT
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWnyuODMYFG
and fell asleep on an old white mattress965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfTZL37CU6
under a fading southern cross.965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDnivuNEpNT
Happy Australia Day965Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVXHTR9vg1
