I took a shadow out on a date last night. 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YOGsQb1L2
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7z83dzxGcU
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUcpmD9j4xU
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bCsOjtrzA
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BKWplQCG4
blurry silhouette1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLyVH8pvkQ
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pWBs68hgs
after staring at a bright light.1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvL1dFRq3m
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnW3QyWTGki
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQtzXzz6H91
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIH5Kbriobz
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwF9ASynao
blotchy green and purple,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtVnyqiu8w
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsna85rRW2X
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPHjSgWsQqG
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4BDNcluxGA
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBDRmPhjCW
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZT1CGzr4zz
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxdqEEzjoi
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnY6Y76GPDI
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDL8as2v1L
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGM2VhhlnBU
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvK1ii7mgY
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0pCFvGpfvU
which was for the good of everyone. 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkBoFV4LtEl
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, 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetOHjigSB3
the shadow, 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIoMWphFkUy
in the chaos, 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡusrQLTRgYQ
so I sat next to a little old lady1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5C9seR1I3x
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBpRb6GGuoQ
It did get more interesting, too, and1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhp34it6fEq
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡghjRezRr8s
that the shadow had gotten left behind.1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngaLm5Y9t6
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9gFCKyjHAg
which may have been short for something else,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3Fg1V5IR2
and her grandson as Other Demons1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUKdKz2UyQE
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6wnMXXYmK
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKOmGaH3vz4
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQGpKOb7B2
or something.1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRk3z7zttG0
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNkQ42037Z
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.1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPSa4jUGV6b
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkYG9vaPm9
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3W2eiZau0
you know, get to know them a bit.1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRYp3gUaaCK
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZc5lzCTIX
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2jEki1kh2
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWOwAGxW978
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtznWaiTQj
You’re welcome to come around sometime,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEf2D4suoYY
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDPglzCB3T
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFSZ5UI46K
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84fY6svsW6
and went back to their home, 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDz5ZJFnTE
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbB6r8R4WSB
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXS27f6IOo
to feast on some lonely children1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIYi5tMRTlt
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSx1FTgxWq4
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcmJBrhf74V
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wPoSc246n
between a battered Toyota 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0WREfj3ZL
and a hulking four wheel drive.1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZuejk7bL8
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksjAxvYS1d
up and down office buildings,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQobKCocD41
through the desert,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPzQNfgFKw
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUckAMN7kk
across a river, 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVFQcKhp1h
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYrPsqbZIC8
of my suburban house.1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHtcpvvy7py
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzuCmTwZIY
and fell asleep on an old white mattress1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWn0sew6uU0
under a fading southern cross.1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGaEuRhbnND
Happy Australia Day1000Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUU7DSZKO79
