I took a shadow out on a date last night. 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdOxH1Cmliz
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzZiE3THOp
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjQGhTerfLd
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZqGcSVF6e
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9Q6MeOncl
blurry silhouette1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlKdTKX7aZK
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ09qLJTdMnO
after staring at a bright light.1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡahoDy6dJyi
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPr7sl6AKl
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYi7j0bvNq
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7IdHZ2WDd
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXhV8DkOtS
blotchy green and purple,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZBzF1n7kk
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2LIQChS1c
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzPgYXoplB
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3gVZSCL7lo
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAstjXLRcPI
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTkVKKyIhx
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttzetaCndn
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBTJbIBzxH
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQo6JO6tQq
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOOYhHCL13
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7K1RftTGK
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOYEYqUT8a
which was for the good of everyone. 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFIEUNd6S2T
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, 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzrYAtKiS5Q
the shadow, 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ6OW9yt3fU
in the chaos, 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDluuMRAoIq
so I sat next to a little old lady1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd9eZfTdC4Y
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAQkRT8Omf
It did get more interesting, too, and1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMheLG8aD14
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ILHuhrzWF
that the shadow had gotten left behind.1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfVB9qBb4xF
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBPbC2AKDl
which may have been short for something else,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmNHN12G4J
and her grandson as Other Demons1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9JyIfBQtuM
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLoXR7REnx2
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISzKtkxDgE
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5LwLfGa1XQ
or something.1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5v6pHjuYQq
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQAeShurr8
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.1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa10FUFxCjC
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9C2sspGpe
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1JC79eZbTy
you know, get to know them a bit.1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG06atAflzt
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15Soz6YJuB
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVu97meqvz
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8B0i6rEbck
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb26hpK50Qn
You’re welcome to come around sometime,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbyEWRoeoP
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8AzcfsboX7
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAmAp1F5Tef
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnhS2NcUhk
and went back to their home, 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ81ave6Lt52
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqr2HV3aema
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlkzhifp89
to feast on some lonely children1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMaemEgyjRI
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHtEIG6axSx
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9LypZ3tNKE
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo9QyRZ2TKO
between a battered Toyota 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ywcJLeK08
and a hulking four wheel drive.1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdVaWg36yVu
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzhMfkJFST
up and down office buildings,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjD6K9H8PXv
through the desert,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSoM5cf4Qs
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWCgmi440F0
across a river, 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1tcJ0EJqS
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVoU6eyuNz
of my suburban house.1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2JxXT5SWs
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNOtYn3SzAo
and fell asleep on an old white mattress1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAaLocpKhLk
under a fading southern cross.1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVIeyobgoyD
Happy Australia Day1056Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeedNCQXmJ2
