I took a shadow out on a date last night. 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf5Qd5YoYYI
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡifAXyjvJmf
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyHvMqBf46
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLpceGuLsk
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlzHfgQVlpn
blurry silhouette871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhYGe48RvO
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqsUkYuAFY
after staring at a bright light.871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhUKQXxGFF
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9uzrApz0V
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMga0raOvOt
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQGj6NnsP8E
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmM0msbuFV5
blotchy green and purple,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIScGmcgKA3
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuNGoGJYpQ
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFb8LjUpfHn
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ999gxCvu1C
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZc8V3hdYzf
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRLaWaJf528
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4l25QY8YYq
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVBRhHZEjm
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoYh6bttl0B
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLMZjxPQDQL
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsiFZ3P4pNq
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KVMKsBVNV
which was for the good of everyone. 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzabm4xxFc
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, 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr96W0cwS9W
the shadow, 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡij7TChl8Dd
in the chaos, 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrT6pIBzy1
so I sat next to a little old lady871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLiDCHJZYZT
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGn20qIi3BK
It did get more interesting, too, and871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOyRxwV78xz
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpuuBIAjG4C
that the shadow had gotten left behind.871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNN2aHjre8d
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHtFw8HJcBs
which may have been short for something else,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ77b9MgxZU0
and her grandson as Other Demons871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv2hW264EuS
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjTafZ9WzFO
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpW9KcfkZuu
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZYda1IGtF
or something.871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp0dOfDSoIP
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxz0aRPbj1l
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.871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA62qWDCtE9
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8kEV3N4ueq
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDa6j5hddgr
you know, get to know them a bit.871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlt1IlHcKJV
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnviA2LG32S
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbKmHygj7u
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe0JpAJoMWv
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5yXQUpGG6E
You’re welcome to come around sometime,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9DxtZZl1c
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpLzIIGtGXb
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3Ztx6GNJp
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH7sUMXXxeq
and went back to their home, 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkLQGhAVlJu
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp0KR6twYus
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwYjOF21DE
to feast on some lonely children871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡROgARoKVmh
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPkKO3ZA3U1
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYEanNQxPP9
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhJQ19T4Yu
between a battered Toyota 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ov5WT8xto
and a hulking four wheel drive.871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡio8rmKENLs
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0eHOCXhRmx
up and down office buildings,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpWcm3bIW1
through the desert,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTB2SYxaBC
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiULSVcPD0x
across a river, 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvv7u1UpW9o
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3z7RqPvPlQ
of my suburban house.871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIoZXLBe9p
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0Nks2oIYo
and fell asleep on an old white mattress871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SCpXcWtH5
under a fading southern cross.871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TnktEDXI8
Happy Australia Day871Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGQJ1vnga5
