I took a shadow out on a date last night. 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUgIAmVJZpV
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXwDfOqOXw
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡylNApuziFu
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhXAlJHn3b
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGjOJrl3LLw
blurry silhouette1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwlle5nxO71
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqJjEpx7Gf
after staring at a bright light.1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0T6ioVzEsn
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡglXPc8dh8g
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zLfeNOWHP
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqCfmWoetHe
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZCZ3bUYoN
blotchy green and purple,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbPXvlFeq6
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8VOiQRjHOs
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡihkioQKR2O
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVod5XPC0dZ
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3v1mkfZtUv
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDdClDMep4y
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVHgesOZcj
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIlHVJhubCp
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbiYZgzyVUY
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLwqfXxH498
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjqdPi0eqV
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnUuftjLGN
which was for the good of everyone. 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF1J2l338yU
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, 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4VxkVSp697
the shadow, 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWpNe213tE
in the chaos, 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhiMIUUjAnA
so I sat next to a little old lady1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibS5IQvjom
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbSxaqgDoPE
It did get more interesting, too, and1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Wljxjzp1O
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkKn94kOUr
that the shadow had gotten left behind.1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMVSvfwat1c
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHTBrxxeUri
which may have been short for something else,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMLKXGn9fN
and her grandson as Other Demons1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAZQtWGOqD
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7Yi0J74Kd
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1jDgQ6Wxpr
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7753qmlTBx
or something.1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcB8xXUgsuz
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEEwpBXE7D
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.1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDDQSWMh7b
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExE1jJWtV7
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaTZRq09pNP
you know, get to know them a bit.1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVxSQqjjJx
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9NHS1DEte
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WH8SoZmX4
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrqYLUsHRM6
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT9vYz65TjQ
You’re welcome to come around sometime,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILH5wolsS2
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQxfUjv9C7n
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTwTr80KLZF
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovo9F5QLwV
and went back to their home, 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYAdMns9sQ
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBR4K3smRT
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQXnbW8VqE
to feast on some lonely children1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGlIC6l2bS
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxwTiNZ1rpK
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7IhQsPwgBl
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlBhvV0DQ5
between a battered Toyota 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOANmKPi5vT
and a hulking four wheel drive.1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YTgZB4VF7
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kIw5KUCJj
up and down office buildings,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9te4UEMEMI
through the desert,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXx3PYORsaj
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefHn5tXoYC
across a river, 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6YJaQnzB7m
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbHYSfRe4bu
of my suburban house.1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVDCzBBdYzE
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeeJMMcepv2
and fell asleep on an old white mattress1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7RysalK8d
under a fading southern cross.1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsEwTDRdsvw
Happy Australia Day1053Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy8z0qGLRh8
