I took a shadow out on a date last night. 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ20UoQ7JQFp
We looked at each other with mutual understanding, 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEj6JYJalfI
and on a picnic blanket nestled down to watch the fireworks.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4UzKcbIF1k
The sun’s stain oozed around the edge of the horizon,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF63NZ6y9Rs
and suddenly my date was nothing more than some 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPA302GTqL1
blurry silhouette792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2R4y8ArCNj
like those weird purple-green blotches you see 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOq2MbYeipI
after staring at a bright light.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkSZudY8zy
Cold? I asked, but there was no answer, 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5qLXFQZaD
and it hadn’t been a question anyway,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFUDny9WXQ4
but my date couldn’t care less about whether or not I wanted a blanket.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHj4K0Eb2oj
He was cold and unfeeling and barely there, 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEuMqAXu1O0
blotchy green and purple,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmYCjOyyQY
fading every few seconds into the scenery, 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhduOYeilTZ
which wasn’t pleasant either, mainly rubbish and792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGIJxh4kakN
dead bushes.
The fireworks started, only to be interrupted halfway through by792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO1LRUaQmGF
an Alien Invasion. It turned out okay though. 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNcGopvIoBs
Their spinning starcrafts had been driving past,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuMElRGbqY
and they had only wanted to see the fireworks,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcXGz2IJpBN
so in true patriotic spirit we welcomed them. 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVTjOI21QW
How could any of us deny them such a simple wish792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIMd5CQJkYn
on such a lovely humid sticky yukky night?792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2la0Ot1te
Then some of the babies got scared of their glowy eyestalks, and started crying, 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡruMB0t2ew7
so the aliens got moved to a cordoned section792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaWaUwiSLo5
which was for the good of everyone. 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfD3BDHftHQ
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, 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqoT2TqcLf
the shadow, 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCauI10JTvF
in the chaos, 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybat3O1HsI
so I sat next to a little old lady792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwOA6tcn8h
and her grandson, and the evening got a hell of a lot weirder. 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbknaYFU91h
It did get more interesting, too, and792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ8zaX7S1oB
secretly, I thought it was probably a good thing 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbA2ObegYM
that the shadow had gotten left behind.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHTGZRRBXaW
The little old lady then introduced herself as Connie, 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPJ3h46qul
which may have been short for something else,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkJmXmu5km
and her grandson as Other Demons792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrGrH84P3H
(which I thought was not very subtle).
Because it turns out that they were demons,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv20u0a1yVd
I could tell by the way their forked tail lashed in the long grass,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5STb9SO3pD
shifty eyes all yellow aglow, fogged up by some metaphors for misery,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5lTeAEhPB
or something.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi1hHSAXAne
I certainly hadn’t been expecting THAT tonight, anyway,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfemvRddLVu
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.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WX1qCmngd
If you ever meet a demon, be nice. 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYB8gf1zxY
It had seemed random at the time.
I decided to have a little conversation,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXL5SEaP7cZ
you know, get to know them a bit.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZ9CO5fs02
With a soundtrack of crackling thunder-like booms 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUdkOAbk7s
and sparks of ether raining down in the night sky,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBagFtoIXrz
I realised that actually, they maybe weren’t all that bad. 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAIx02VWoXK
They were eccentric, but good hearted, probably.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBWCobbVZp2
You’re welcome to come around sometime,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG9kw2z4QKq
I said, at 84 Osborne street. 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNp3w0RRdtU
I channelled some literature; don’t bother knocking, 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBYCnwynzUV
and they smiled, I think, a frowny smile, 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhhdExMXUu
and went back to their home, 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kgDIlIWXq
flapping away into the clouds on black leathery wings 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvrjjbD0v4R
which reminded me of liquorice.
Later I found out that they’d been on their way792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7D4FCFVoWR
to feast on some lonely children792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEwim07aCs
but had gotten sidetracked by fireworks,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFVph1id6mJ
as you do.
The fireworks had ended already792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0XzcJQfuJ2
by the time I made my way back to the sleigh I’d parked 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ72KQWD46bj
between a battered Toyota 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0vLBAnANa
and a hulking four wheel drive.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtpTjK6jNyS
My eight kangaroos pulled me all the way back,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnNTIvUt9tK
up and down office buildings,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0a5yYlRtT
through the desert,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzEozUO5Dq
around and around a roundabout (we got caught in the whirl)792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAJZQ7OAfS
across a river, 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJvXJGIFlF
over the milky way,
and then we pulled up on the lawn 792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkdTWRM1nrG
of my suburban house.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGWfbvqarM
Walking inside, I flopped face down, doll-like,792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXFgV17hpE
and fell asleep on an old white mattress792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbdFmMQO9J
under a fading southern cross.792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkt5by8N2xV
Happy Australia Day792Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvsTMmsTdgP
