I took a shadow out on a date last night. 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMYDaMyviU
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsKGSKtGgI
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIB2R8JtcOS
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjQfUnpdlT
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt77rsbLQgR
blurry silhouette916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvz6Z84ZJEa
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyO6SNyEhrv
after staring at a bright light.916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh14tpZW5DS
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZA63fQHZCu
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFH4tjqus9j
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89aGe9XSv7
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf49ZuDwEJo
blotchy green and purple,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhE097ZbrN
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb7sNIOWTOT
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgd9olhodym
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKTinjY66f
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrq3oTnxP2
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB5LZCqqoRA
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRYpwOZNmn
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9gXcU27TBW
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7E59sX8GT
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RQaRqh9Di
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoN9XSRFS3K
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl8R6NNGgxV
which was for the good of everyone. 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDg2kuv9XZ7
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, 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYVLVrcT2dx
the shadow, 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTfooA2Vwzb
in the chaos, 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlsiwmIX2mt
so I sat next to a little old lady916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qUC1ZwKrw
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkW7QiGcpr
It did get more interesting, too, and916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6UFOxUFAhT
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNgH9bziKf
that the shadow had gotten left behind.916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSoQHFFxvv
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQBGPzEVuqY
which may have been short for something else,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK2iO2Lxdkb
and her grandson as Other Demons916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBW0oLGrdDG
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPjzIq4sQ5Y
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMmKGaI44S
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE795S1V11w
or something.916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5PqJxysx4M
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyTZdhPKd3t
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.916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTOyxJxlpMt
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZldi5va1M
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWpkfQQf9py
you know, get to know them a bit.916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt00J6hqRZq
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6d1DIDvsL4
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Ucyo8qsmZ
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvu1gYLzMtc
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7VpNg4VjSU
You’re welcome to come around sometime,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ856G4sIvf
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtClQ5pI4sA
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfAftEbST9d
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡalaeNy91mE
and went back to their home, 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAVFOoPAEEK
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWuYNvaZ0qP
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw02UU9gKvD
to feast on some lonely children916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMCbqP8554
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9yX3uOvKeO
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8kFlwpDCL
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jzzgIXz1g
between a battered Toyota 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqpnAZzy6en
and a hulking four wheel drive.916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBHOYhr7OM
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxpHqXbCmgO
up and down office buildings,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGeddfk5KDh
through the desert,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡabSNVGpNbr
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlpdkHsCDNm
across a river, 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJFHDE4PPx
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTjdeBvUhkP
of my suburban house.916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpaRozp2Sl5
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTWoWrC5gt
and fell asleep on an old white mattress916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDzCd81QVM
under a fading southern cross.916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv0kFohOFl8
Happy Australia Day916Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLt8WXl9pYZ
