I took a shadow out on a date last night. 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIHVHASQc4E
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf1TQwucc69
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqK6oKQVkbR
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGHSfhNk2c
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhV7AZsjro
blurry silhouette1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCbPGbL9Olo
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgHOjasRaBR
after staring at a bright light.1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVf3BWlA11v
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi70gATwFwA
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCXTKfw1r7
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUleCx75EFr
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe6G85n8x24
blotchy green and purple,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiNeUCZxkN3
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwIahyScgjA
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcmaCYkEIjP
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcdKC7YPOtg
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4I1Wf9lbD
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCAIxXOphUT
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zKZUqGBQo
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaumyUHdQ7W
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5XPfrnHcl6
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIBJRrFfx93
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEk7tS0yqEi
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcuxf2pEdyX
which was for the good of everyone. 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnaEvtlZxDf
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, 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWRYPKfuGm
the shadow, 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwv5jle2wEI
in the chaos, 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwB4Q9y9kwN
so I sat next to a little old lady1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnYA2xRjz0
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfYGnHocyt
It did get more interesting, too, and1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQmmsSc3V9
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtpaBDHdOoL
that the shadow had gotten left behind.1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡznHAUbLn54
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRYsmnHFEV
which may have been short for something else,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXTj0QLOYv
and her grandson as Other Demons1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYia0RtP4a
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYP62OGrJJw
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6IX8ta1LB
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFGtnda4Oy
or something.1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7GXmSyblI
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0cZgdkv1T
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.1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYthK2bQFCU
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1jVvDKd8F
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9BrotXf1mC
you know, get to know them a bit.1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhj4r7GfiOM
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBaIl01bGJ
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4Gd13cnVx
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcRrOmyirHa
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJ4The4tml
You’re welcome to come around sometime,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmni0WwD6nH
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcp3CeyyLhx
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC9MRSywSZg
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DJrNFf8Ik
and went back to their home, 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMB9hn1b6H
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizECP1Wiju
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbOuGo3jkVx
to feast on some lonely children1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSP5tQs9PHn
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEnUeZZSoo
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlEcYXdIVY
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTh19XRRwH
between a battered Toyota 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Yyw03Byui
and a hulking four wheel drive.1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXB4Pw8CgeA
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmTSZ82TGic
up and down office buildings,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNH7HBMhbe
through the desert,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMuh0jSvMF
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7rUnwWncPW
across a river, 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡurI6jRCuD2
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNATqnyc1Bl
of my suburban house.1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQdaAEdC1sR
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqlHC4KmfX
and fell asleep on an old white mattress1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgaZqpiKEmp
under a fading southern cross.1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3pCRYdgYtJ
Happy Australia Day1004Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKfrQi8MAb
