I took a shadow out on a date last night. 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTadRVA7YyV
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbirw7awtDU
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUTRFZfr8YD
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuIeUIcqpnD
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNyKrP0gP0l
blurry silhouette921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMuN6TNFRa
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡClZH6hgLt4
after staring at a bright light.921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDeZ1rxwt2
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57w5gqt4J8
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQu5Px0p6e
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jwTOfhWu5
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hLww9BjuT
blotchy green and purple,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYFpxlN34Y
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLQNtp6xjN
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qwWHaQZZ2
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9KEPqmECWd
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7sXMzv2R46
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ39PAkkBt3D
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfum9zzNMFk
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Blm4frZi5
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8IbQ8keWF7
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxmiVl0PdQy
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXf8Y314J1d
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYS3ZsaCNg8
which was for the good of everyone. 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJoB0FotTG
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, 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3VBSDpt8Hs
the shadow, 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP4rdOYD14y
in the chaos, 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIjxWIFnNN
so I sat next to a little old lady921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSCYvREQHm
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzCyo47tab
It did get more interesting, too, and921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN2CJDzTmre
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfDrp15vFV
that the shadow had gotten left behind.921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJBaOSKH21
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQuC77QXdDE
which may have been short for something else,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtoFaGq4Nte
and her grandson as Other Demons921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2C5RaoLe9
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0F1TYCxsMS
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqM0eibteD
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnClEZISwH
or something.921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy06qhZsxq9
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡytPDTWQYD2
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.921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7UAnZaufjd
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzLd7Nxjzwa
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNlZ9ZHyOP
you know, get to know them a bit.921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cDSTKBMbv
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLaQSEYdabY
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoHpEkpnJw
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJL2loVifrd
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqERVP9Q8JG
You’re welcome to come around sometime,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKKcQy5GjA2
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMwceoxSBT
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfH0iiOpKro
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXg8Txgsngh
and went back to their home, 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlVAaGj60M
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBztY4BONxG
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbzKA3NrlrL
to feast on some lonely children921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOETeXxcI8X
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSCYI7jAZbR
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkPxb8X60Ts
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFLDDJmDJDY
between a battered Toyota 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDGYIRRtUm0
and a hulking four wheel drive.921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIdFifaGcu
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzDl5qbjzOE
up and down office buildings,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8evY1Pt8u7
through the desert,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeQcvM9lDCc
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPom7dKBqvN
across a river, 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVYwAEYeB8
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeFBeCZLcoL
of my suburban house.921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgwM6HaQ35
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJMg9PSoMO
and fell asleep on an old white mattress921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhe2nDs4d5j
under a fading southern cross.921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZaOeV7N9c
Happy Australia Day921Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIeg1HOJRpv
