I took a shadow out on a date last night. 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA7N656sQsi
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGgdhtWGbPT
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRnjdUg1dT
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCsby6IHwv
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBApw6jCRFt
blurry silhouette824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp8k0uyIBCR
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8h8bU2UvAM
after staring at a bright light.824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRR11bX2xu
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJiLSCQJJKk
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizYJYuY2A9
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWKZdnXEpG
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rqQ4Z4eTQ
blotchy green and purple,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCsA7wQzdUQ
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWEfqo7PmI
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJPX0AbH6I
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5knli4QaN1
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2uIjy9fjPz
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9LD993e7P
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMJiBz0mYq
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGi43DhPKj
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoL4OCgWZdX
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlzaSSLpaBK
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCr94YL7pBu
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnw3jAlmhbT
which was for the good of everyone. 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETVbijZOyY
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, 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgNeUESLFQ
the shadow, 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JevGuwvNt
in the chaos, 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1zdBBI9tD
so I sat next to a little old lady824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi3bL0VNEE8
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2fqYkvZ64
It did get more interesting, too, and824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwldUHpQqM
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCFtnwVh4rq
that the shadow had gotten left behind.824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsyGjD0QHe4
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHUHFymsFs
which may have been short for something else,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbnYACoRHbo
and her grandson as Other Demons824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwliwF7zRVi
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PzZvpVK7F
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5anCdMagpx
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAdxPNid2CU
or something.824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs4swbv89JY
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWp4veSoBbQ
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.824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxcE3hdjggU
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5V40GK3sKI
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdcd4zKfClh
you know, get to know them a bit.824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQBnFoNS3E
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfeaL75qCAR
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSEPIrXtWDt
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQG98CUNMqH
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBcZUBtEau
You’re welcome to come around sometime,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHRYqv0YxhP
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBVODe6r6ZH
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCbnM3radXX
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORC0NwGuPF
and went back to their home, 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNF28T5ZZvz
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIoeYPxzT9
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7q0jJyNkGc
to feast on some lonely children824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZnqoxj93T
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkLseki52o
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRzdAqSMjC
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhcirjbyN0
between a battered Toyota 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Wwcm4hlOG
and a hulking four wheel drive.824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7XSfULEEik
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq63xU0IHZW
up and down office buildings,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIf3NCkN44S
through the desert,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQ7mY8QpSw
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGn7T1wsYp
across a river, 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX2hfh9DS2K
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡme6w2jPHPc
of my suburban house.824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBcEoj249Q
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgr1GdCUK2I
and fell asleep on an old white mattress824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0SkhvrB7p
under a fading southern cross.824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcC6mO5t6Pm
Happy Australia Day824Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpvOV6vtDo
