I took a shadow out on a date last night. 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqozNAbC8hf
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDT17pptVb
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cJYhyY3F0
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZWXb8iAUw1
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwaizUAHKYQ
blurry silhouette822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdMVQ4CWAu
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfp9jlZk5o
after staring at a bright light.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ8bHm1ORNh
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSkc0Xd7Vzy
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnKAgiZjnlK
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWCJWPMwOCd
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMsO4JRbd8
blotchy green and purple,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1RivaTNPvy
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsgk3O9NAd
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxhxQNRTTX9
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYNJI5ONT3
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4bSLpAAadm
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm42VKkMs23
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG97tmWptNq
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWGNFvlgK5X
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VKrV1mWEH
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8WCejUObZp
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJqtlkcItp
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHZlhvHcY1
which was for the good of everyone. 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiEc31WMxvL
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, 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQJMqV1yix
the shadow, 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2uHAGPWjgH
in the chaos, 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGHBgg9F8P
so I sat next to a little old lady822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhGzgRU0QMI
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYQsgJQVwR
It did get more interesting, too, and822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyK7cDG2lCk
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYFH3ILWEY
that the shadow had gotten left behind.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0eDa8CWrD
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOZDVLyGRe
which may have been short for something else,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAahPF19XwI
and her grandson as Other Demons822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOg61D2E3WO
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4HotlbBOMz
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP9D9HKVqM9
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEyA5YbtaVm
or something.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMzoFJdcNrA
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI2NdqTrsjg
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.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡezJD0ddo4m
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD4L8Ot4HNs
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWVz4iJHrF
you know, get to know them a bit.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMrBdLrIBt
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzgHJcfAl2
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1g8lfkhjH
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcEc5lxOfAo
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQubtUxd2B
You’re welcome to come around sometime,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOfXx7brK6D
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeslpMo9F8w
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡorliV19MwD
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfaR4OTkozg
and went back to their home, 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvuOq8K3ytq
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtBwo55R7r8
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6QvU4a25V
to feast on some lonely children822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCd3hzMtd1x
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhYvryOqgM
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUkFxI2bmtv
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqtRa4leDF
between a battered Toyota 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAcXzEpwSgW
and a hulking four wheel drive.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc0rIv2Ll4t
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvh1nwtgKwF
up and down office buildings,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoL25eLm3Jr
through the desert,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYMIFpjZjI
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SI0IoLCdZ
across a river, 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmblkin3mSc
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCtLPOSpl1A
of my suburban house.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhssHDNko1r
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIfyCLWLs0N
and fell asleep on an old white mattress822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9i4MuBIaq
under a fading southern cross.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxq13Inr9D
Happy Australia Day822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfEc4RZGzOW
