I took a shadow out on a date last night. 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkROOtrvXRJ
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qJPuk97sJ
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdT6ak24QzQ
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTkcWfNNVPf
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1iXgAJHV8
blurry silhouette927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9mQ9JxqRR
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sdewKgar2
after staring at a bright light.927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqcaxGfrFl
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiovqIFPPzO
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrjnoAPxNQX
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBpe1aVmssy
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9TuUtYL4Wq
blotchy green and purple,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMYohfFYcv
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5rZAEp0kK
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7t75wgpmTS
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ21PM3CZdn8
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoWGWTnlxi
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFqyapYLOC
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkASbTgJzXG
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRHunziKnwl
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjp5bpMPAI
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKb9TEtid9K
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpBq3pdvU4y
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15ESu8DQKg
which was for the good of everyone. 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmvZN0yjv8J
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, 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDwWSqu19j
the shadow, 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNnub7Xo1HC
in the chaos, 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnAZ5moztiU
so I sat next to a little old lady927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEUvRHUAmju
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSW3QehegBL
It did get more interesting, too, and927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbintpv1nT0
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6NpKPsSsEF
that the shadow had gotten left behind.927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xnveQrHff
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbxq9E28Q1
which may have been short for something else,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLqRUBLJjw
and her grandson as Other Demons927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHydcfuiXoc
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5BjzSbZkU
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7rKpSy3OK
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJX2Q7B7Mn
or something.927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmwH7AD3rO
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvoSnAZKSLK
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.927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHxqsTZI1j
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJUvsmbSaE
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbKOHzLlqY
you know, get to know them a bit.927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQtQlMtzVS3
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ26XQKtUML5
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5lmvMQJQSw
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWOcy72bRxD
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1sDwBM48kE
You’re welcome to come around sometime,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjJPjjFayF8
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUf8kS5m6NG
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZwtF4TY0p
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCO8kuzm7hy
and went back to their home, 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YYLlxJVK9
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jdUA6o1yG
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ13Vc6tCmm
to feast on some lonely children927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrGdO74pD8f
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiPStNUGFF
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rNR4BxeGf
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTg99EIGZfI
between a battered Toyota 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQTGN1yNc1Z
and a hulking four wheel drive.927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjJqam3juJa
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsaD7f4S4SE
up and down office buildings,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVa0UNHHT67
through the desert,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRCjw3cX2Rq
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHB6qeLMpOT
across a river, 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK02s3V9EnA
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNBKZvgBTIL
of my suburban house.927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhm9Auzn3xV
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFskJ9dCniG
and fell asleep on an old white mattress927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwuQiC0mENm
under a fading southern cross.927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplGKp0HnU2
Happy Australia Day927Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRWK8sXBOw
