I took a shadow out on a date last night. 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8gDbqCu7f
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4QGzMxBBf6
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡun0ahvq4C9
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxoEgSczivJ
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCyuJJSAWRV
blurry silhouette1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPtqGXxlzO
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgnVEshz9c
after staring at a bright light.1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgtXnUSxeKk
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtWluXp9Bq
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYn7UQ0mKm
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb6E9UuykFZ
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡajQemiGJWm
blotchy green and purple,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5yju6QoTP
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB11E06lMh1
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15iK4NwJxQ
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7V5FZm5rNx
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWMdXacHvyk
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevvfcU8o1A
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Gn2tQImFt
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa5M3F8lufj
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuFqHMrLJd
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxR2E4k1QzL
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡweiFWzs89k
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ97VJEmQCNR
which was for the good of everyone. 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtFTFEQK3tI
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, 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMbD8ggVIK
the shadow, 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT546lw9lMu
in the chaos, 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIlRBNbfbnU
so I sat next to a little old lady1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuQaBfSBvD
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBsBiu89Xy
It did get more interesting, too, and1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq80sGFwGwM
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqFdDcmj03Q
that the shadow had gotten left behind.1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZEg4qdAcK
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZd1Qz4cGlK
which may have been short for something else,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7FVZzWmbe
and her grandson as Other Demons1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRoXFcAJTJ
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ03VU2z8CZD
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡck8BtaxfCI
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl8W4wFlvfD
or something.1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2lxQ3nNpr6
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMAuZbOFxY5
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.1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVNbTFaPUYz
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5HIOEgvRi9
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSHSyKxUrhu
you know, get to know them a bit.1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl09r0QLCOF
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJqDVeB0NtP
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVvc3FuuMG
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNqcUvWQHf
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiApF3v0uwX
You’re welcome to come around sometime,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Palk7QhL6
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzsM3SiaL3
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXEHs7gHTlO
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pxVZsOIQm
and went back to their home, 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfVxTAwof8k
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kwtVy3mr5
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGxcXXL5wH
to feast on some lonely children1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7KNx5xMZME
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡic7Tmm2UGd
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbToD7kXOMb
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhBsVfvkusf
between a battered Toyota 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuufrX8qnwU
and a hulking four wheel drive.1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIy9A0qiaDD
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgLzUFMDeGR
up and down office buildings,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZIeN6LWIW
through the desert,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrrWlGuacJL
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbuCTZCRHbR
across a river, 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSaSRGLe9iK
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6hErl7NR1V
of my suburban house.1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJepaaszTMS
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOs1bl64qTW
and fell asleep on an old white mattress1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGG7oDzfHA
under a fading southern cross.1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmMsW3XBye
Happy Australia Day1025Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7nYYXz741H
