I took a shadow out on a date last night. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgAWvieslL
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEAuuQkREnC
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhR4gr19Te4
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOcyCyC6JN
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7aibDdhnNG
blurry silhouette844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrm1wyde4jb
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJFhbwjWbN
after staring at a bright light.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNN7gQgnc1T
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgncj94rRVA
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMf9y1Uwn4
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqulsK5769
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡytqflw4DDH
blotchy green and purple,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHHQ7f96MAt
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj7MJNNzxUM
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6tgKNzUE3E
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0rg3X6xOY
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDiuh7YbmUl
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudZAYSPhfD
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshy85erbmU
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPg7NBGrZM
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQ4T7FqQnb
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡseMpdR1OEg
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMRm3ew1DoN
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7nNj2hbflF
which was for the good of everyone. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDe8GuM7l8v
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, 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULYvbuh1I9
the shadow, 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAhZISw6Mpr
in the chaos, 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLsHhdz2qbZ
so I sat next to a little old lady844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshyPkyrsqr
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7aDacYZSa
It did get more interesting, too, and844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFEXVgHLxP
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD72xi0kEYk
that the shadow had gotten left behind.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCoPgRZSugo
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGyjcjZGAz9
which may have been short for something else,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZXmHxw5tw
and her grandson as Other Demons844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPSLuuB1mwC
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQHSeMz1nxo
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6rYxh3DtJD
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9JfEdvH3T
or something.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1EEcMikQ2
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErEkbSwLpY
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.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ZSQxLUanX
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡer6B9IFUAn
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigvDdhkHM3
you know, get to know them a bit.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJZl3XuidQ
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQDLpFPW2g
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqdyVBsB4j
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRW1DQ7Xcrb
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRylETN0bXT
You’re welcome to come around sometime,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWMdLWRe83
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cgMxT9WN1
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9djSo9ksAE
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Kwf7nCaFN
and went back to their home, 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡho89BAQocx
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTn3CQNtmEU
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0AdNLaZLnI
to feast on some lonely children844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQOeOrJoHE
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzW9WCFKYPd
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrSAzAf0wSN
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCCvvRqSMtY
between a battered Toyota 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5xxGtLFToU
and a hulking four wheel drive.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLOcuuVdMs
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YYhEWUZjl
up and down office buildings,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDDXhLBwvO
through the desert,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0X4FkreLS
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIXgyAY386
across a river, 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvlZZijzxl1
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIo2tSk7Fa
of my suburban house.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWNGsA4KsI
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyT8vzooN0w
and fell asleep on an old white mattress844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3q46d9sdCD
under a fading southern cross.844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjOW9zKwMMx
Happy Australia Day844Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH8uBZ6O2kQ
