I took a shadow out on a date last night. 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJ85sITHTW
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYOEmtiOgY
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpzYqrNwCGu
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqNTArABkS2
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlzZCx1XBeF
blurry silhouette901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ofrMYhOOd
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP2fS7JKh3O
after staring at a bright light.901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡji5pQZ6OWf
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvY4qjIW4W
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54meyFFyDO
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60fbCA7c4r
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCVmppDNu03
blotchy green and purple,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡelzYikUcRl
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKsqPyG7gyV
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QfbeTcHfH
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnPgIh43pvk
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzXg52uvg4x
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyT1BaT06M
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ1cLfRq8QO
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2yp6ORVaXK
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rJIDEJ5eE
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHora5v3RJ
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJV6RzoA6Ba
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHpF1hwaNux
which was for the good of everyone. 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡulPuGsk0tF
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, 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9xJv3XJ4M
the shadow, 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡszfurpf5Yg
in the chaos, 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtPPPdr7yA5
so I sat next to a little old lady901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMFfPCX5CH
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQKzCk1EBo
It did get more interesting, too, and901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc7oRStjbX0
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWggj6h9tMU
that the shadow had gotten left behind.901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmBMic9yFQs
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zV2A1RI0q
which may have been short for something else,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6EQ1xOLD1
and her grandson as Other Demons901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31msgB1qzS
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJ7pquWrhi
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50FPZj2Qoa
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZsJ8ws58Xp
or something.901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ1G1TEIytC
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbMIQlAIxM
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.901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡueOkZ3dd3K
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ797kXxhn4w
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ElzRviliR
you know, get to know them a bit.901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcI1fNKR7a
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIEKLQPpvAX
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Ec6krK5ka
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGKxJfw5ymc
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDuovUFEbAl
You’re welcome to come around sometime,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6OdlF3QNzZ
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPEK64kC8Te
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAs5eQX2RN3
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbcsrBzVsn
and went back to their home, 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAiqkWbfXq0
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKuAS1as6at
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfpmiXcMCw
to feast on some lonely children901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohsssRWG5r
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3nVruFgIM6
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqAGqRcuqug
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMBmxPRD9A8
between a battered Toyota 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYOQV2ifU0
and a hulking four wheel drive.901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadwoJAiFUs
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWjiu3x7I7x
up and down office buildings,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiUYCnGVqF6
through the desert,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqSpKIjz6y
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2faRNPWBO1
across a river, 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PRbW0Hnnm
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5JH9Sj3zQN
of my suburban house.901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3Cxxyj35u
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcFJT9E9bF
and fell asleep on an old white mattress901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREzB5bnSfN
under a fading southern cross.901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjLLOcok1U
Happy Australia Day901Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdtd1A34Ah
