Timothy McSweeney's Header Image

- - - -

Now available for preorder:
The San Francisco Panorama
.

- - - -

S H O R T   I M A G I N E D
M O N O L O G U E S .

- - - -

I Can't Remain
Your Girlfriend
Just Because
Your Best Friend
Is in a Coma.

BY Nicole Fabian

- - - -

I was planning on doing it before all this, I swear. I'll let you look at my diary and you can read the entry entitled "Reasons to Break Up With Nelson." The date is two weeks before this happened. The thing is, there is other stuff in there I'd rather you not read. I make fun of you. A lot. And I don't want to add insult to injury by letting you read such hurtful things. It's just that, after you came back from London, you referred to a parking lot as "dodgy." You were there for a week! It made me very unattracted to you, and I needed to get it out—you know, vent. Sue me for taking the "healthy" approach!

And now that we're on the subject of honesty, I must admit, I was never really into this a hundred percent. What? Don't look at me like you're better than me. I'm putting it all out there and it's not easy. This is how it went: On our first date, I was unsure, but decided to give you another shot. On first dates it's hard to tell. Then, on our second date, you made a bit of a comeback. I liked your T-shirt—faded black with the word "Inferno" printed unobtrusively in gold in the corner. It looked like it was really yours from long ago, not something you bought at Goodwill. Of course, this falsely advertised that you were naturally hip. Also, you paid for dinner again. Nice touch. Generally, our conversation was pleasant and I welcomed the idea of seeing you again. The third date, though. That was rough. You drank too much, I drank more, and we more or less established the fact that the only thing we have in common is that we both like the hit ABC show Lost. (You like the bald guy, though, and I like Matthew Fox. See? We can't even agree on that.) I brought you back to my place, lay on top of you, and kissed you hard and sloppy. Cheryl convinced me to "see where it goes."

Now here we are years later living together and, I have to admit, I'm just not that into you. I've been giving things a lot of thought lately. I went to a meditation class last Sunday with Cheryl, and it came to me that we should spend some time apart. Pran, my guru (that's the instructor), agrees. He says, "One cannot flourish when attached to another." I need to flourish! It will be good for both of us. Especially now, with your oldest friend in a coma, you could probably use some "me time." No one bothering you, etc. It will allow you to take a look inside, re-evaluate what's important to you. I know I sometimes like to be alone when I'm going through something. And look at me! Am I not equipped to deal with any problem the world throws at me? You will be, too!

And don't think for a second that this has anything to do with the fact that Chase and I have been talking again. I'm just being a good friend. He's a mess from Jackie ending things, and needs someone to talk to. I'm sorry, but I'm not the kind of person who hangs my friends out to dry. God.

Please. Don't think I'm a bitch. I know it may seem that way, but it's only because I'm putting myself first for once. You're not used to that. I feel suffocated lately, trapped, and I think you do, too. I'm doing you a favor here. Watch, you'll thank me. It wouldn't be fair to stay with you just because you have "issues" right now. It would be a complete sham of a relationship. And I know you don't want that.

- - - -

PREVIOUS SHORT IMAGINED MONOLOGUES

- - - -

Eco Joe's Pre-WrestleMania-Match Rant Leaves a Lot to Be Desired
By Frank Ferri (4/24/09)

Bono Gives the Rush-Hour Traffic Report
By Alyssa Lang (4/2/09)

This Adult Male Greater Sage Grouse Refuses to Play the Plumage Game, Baby
By Paul Ita (3/3/09)

Subway Sandwich Artist's Statement
By Jonathan Tucker Bell (2/19/09)

Stevie Nicks Applies for Work at an Ice Rink
By Jordi Barnes (1/27/09)

A Mail Carrier Realizes That a Family's Netflix Movie Has Yet to Be Returned
By Frank Ferri (1/6/09)

A Candiru Issues an Apology From Inside Your Urethra
By Isaac Rooks (12/8/08)

The Cervine Patient Begins His Analysis
By Curtis Edmonds (11/19/08)

No Son of Mine Plays Oregon Trail Like That
By Michael Nelson Price (11/6/08)

Beowulf, Sitting Next to a 16-Year-Old Kid, Watches Frasier on a Transcontinental Flight
By Russell Hehn (10/28/08)

A 39-Year-Old Wedding Photographer Makes Her Pitch at the Ramada Inn Bridal Expo
By Christine Nangle (10/21/08)

A Taxi Dispatcher Talks a Passenger Through an Emergency Parking
By Jake Salter (8/5/08)

Jeff Bezos Says Hi to You in the Waiting Room of Your Doctors' Office
By Evan Johnston (8/1/08)

Mom, Dad, I'm Into Steampunk
By Marco Kaye (7/25/08)

It Was I Who Flipped Over the Risk Board Last Night
By Colin Nissan (6/17/08)

A Former WWF Wrestler, Now a Suburban Realtor and Parent of Three, Campaigns for PTA Chair and Battles His Instincts
By Teddy Wayne (6/10/08)

A Pep Talk for the New Pair of Shorts I Will Wear Every Day This Summer
By John Frank (5/13/08)

The Most Complicated Game
By Michael Reisman (3/4/08)

Potsie's Breakdown
By Lindsay Champion (2/26/08)

Heart for Sale, Slightly Torn
By Adrienne Gunn (2/14/08)

I Can't Remain Your Girlfriend Just Because Your Best Friend Is in a Coma
By Nicole Fabian (2/5/08)

Fellow Grocery Shoppers of Checkout Line No. 6
By Sean P. Murray (1/29/08)

An Orca Goes Drinking, Talks About His Career
By Jonathan J. Levin (1/22/08)

Let Me Assure You, Joanie. I Am Freezing
By Grace Parra (12/18/07)

Blake, Alec Baldwin's Character From the Movie Version of Glengarry Glen Ross, Motivates Some Fourth-Graders
By Sonny Harding (12/11/07)

Christopher Robin Stages an Intervention
By Becky Adnot (11/28/07)

An Inarticulate, Self-Consciously Ironic Voice of His Twentysomething Generation Makes an Opening Statement for His Client in a Corporate-Fraud Case
By Teddy Wayne (11/13/07)

My Workplace Eulogy, as Given by My Boss, in Office Jargon
By Eric Feezell (11/6/07)

In the Early '70s, a Chicago Native Approves of the Sears Tower Construction, in Anticipation of It Beating the World Trade Center for Tallest Building in the World
By Michael Stutz (10/23/07)

After Organizing an Emergency Eight-and-Three-Fourths-Year Reunion, a Late Bloomer Shares Some Important News With Her Class
By Aisha Muharrar (10/9/07)

An Obsessive-Compulsive's Prayer Before Death
By Eric Buell (10/2/07)

The CEO of the Olive Garden Makes His Last Stand on the "Free Breadsticks" Issue
By Mike Drucker (9/26/07)

Upon Hearing Fred's Usual Suggestion That the Gang Split Up, Velma Raises a Few Issues
By Jay Dyckman (9/17/07)

Having Just Completed a Three-Week Throw-Intensive Judo Course, I Strongly Advise You Not to Fuck With Me
By Dave De Fina (9/5/07)

Moby-Dick Explains His New Captain Ahab Piercing to His Wife
By Chad Rutan (8/23/07)

Narcissus Places a Personal Ad
By Matteson Perry (8/14/07)

Death-Metal Star Rethinks Romantic Love Onstage
By Jonathan J. Levin (8/8/07)

A Billet-Doux From Your Goldfish
By A.H. Avouris (7/31/07)

I'm So Happy, I Think I'll Flip a Car
By Christine F. Nangle (7/24/07)

Eulogy for a Bearded Bee Guy
By Colin Nissan (7/20/07)

Emergency Broadcast System
By Vince Eckert (7/11/07)

Vladimir Nabokov Didn't Have to Put Up With Payroll
By Shane Ryan (6/26/07)

An Elmwood Forest High School Special Report: Susan Mary Kovolski Thinks She'd Make a Great Prom Date
By Megan Baker (6/20/07)

Bo Jackson Announces His Intention to Rush for Over 500 Yards in a Single Game in Tecmo Bowl for Nintendo
By Rick Stoeckel (6/5/07)

Your Driver Hopes You're Sharing His Epiphany
By Emma Rowley (5/15/07)

Thoughts for Incoming Freshman
By Pat Landers (4/19/07)

William Smith: The College-Application Essay
By Justin Parker Pool I (4/12/07)

A Drunken, Obnoxious, Imaginative, Unnecessary Best-Man Speech for a Friend's Marriage of Convenience at the Municipal Building
By Matthew Collison (3/7/07)

An Excerpt From the Lindale High School Graduation Valedictorian Speech by Samuel Clark, Who Ate the Brains of His Fellow Students to Increase His Intelligence
By Alex Kane (2/28/07)

Tom Skerritt's Speech to the Cadets in Top Gun Is Probably Long Enough as It Is
By Patrick Cassels (2/14/07)

Today's AA Speaker: Mr. Tom Waits (If Mr. Waits Is Actually Like the People He Writes Songs About)
By Russell Bradbury-Carlin (2/5/07)

My Brain's Answers During an Interview After Hearing the News That I Am About to Take Mushrooms for the First Time
By Dan Klein

Matthew McConaughey Explains to His Friend Rich That He Forgot His Dr. Pepper
By Dede Preno

Holden Caulfield Gives the Commencement Speech to a High School
By Andrew Tan

Holiday Basket Case
By Angie Brennan

Professor Richard Dawkins Speaks at Fair Hills Kindergarten Regarding Santa Claus, December 2, 2006
By Mike Jones

An 8-Foot Submarine Sandwich Gives Himself a Pep Talk
By Alex Berg

The Lead Singer Is Distracting Me
By Juan Martinez

And They Say You Can't Get Any Jobs With a Philosophy Degree
By Devin Blake

Slash Prepares to Run to 7-Eleven for Cigarettes at
4 A.M.

By Nick Kirincic

Aquaman, King of the Seven Seas, Has Fucking Had It With You, Man
By Glen Weldon

Wario Gives an Account of a Mario Kart Race for Strangers at a Bar
By Charlie Nadler

I'm Beginning to Think No One's Coming to My Cinco de Mayo Party
By Jason Roeder

Bill Cosby's Unused Dialogue as the Voice of King Kong During the Final Confrontation on Top of the Empire State Building in Peter Jackson's King Kong
By Mike Jones

A Push-Reel Mower's Rumination on Mowing the Lawn in the Gas-Powered Age
By Brian Slattery

Final Thoughts of the Big Bald Shirtless German Soldier Who Beat Up Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark
By Ralph Gamelli

Bob Hope Auditions for the Role of Quint in Jaws: April 12, 1974 (The USS Indianapolis Monologue)
By Robert Hornak

An Unwelcome Confession From Someone Whose Hand Is in Your Mouth
By Emma Rowley

Alligators Are the New Sharks, as Rebutted by a Shark
By Eric Edwards

The Garter Snake in 11-Year-Old Kevin Wackerbarth's Terrarium
By Ned Rust

David Caruso Scolds His Cat About Its Lackadaisical Litter-Box Use
By Brian Graham

Britney Spears Responds to Daniel Edwards's Sculpture Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston
By Julie Bear

Timothy Treadwell's Screen Tests for Cheers
By Eugenia Williamson

Ryan Adams Gives a Speech to a Little League Team He Coaches, Before the Championship Game
By Roger Marks

The Thoughts of Burt Reynolds Upon Stumbling on a Rerun of Win, Lose, or Draw on the Game Show Network on August 9, 2005
By Ben Hogan

Dr. Robotnik's Proposal to His Board of Shareholders
By Mark Alletag

Christopher Walken Attempts to Convince a Harlem T-Shirt Vendor That Scarface Can Be a Religion
By Libby Leonard

Trent, From Swingers, Performs an Exorcism
By Adam J. Silver

Alfred Hitchcock Complains About His Hotel Room
By Andrew Meek

"The Macho Man" Randy Savage Goes to the Doctor
By Rick Stoeckel

Morgan Freeman Buys a Pop-A-Shot Machine
By Greg Ruehlmann

Thak, the Most Organized Member of the Party of Roughly 70 People Who Originally Settled North America
By Richard D. Allen

George Jefferson's Thoughts on Mind and Style
By Ben Greenman

Bit Bit, Speak!: A Monologue From the Canine Companion of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline
By Kathy Cacace

Microsoft Office Assistant: The Paper Clip
By Justin Kahn

What It Is to Love and Lose: Groucho Marx
By Ben Greenman

2008 Presidential Stump Speech of Billy Bush, Cousin of George W. Bush and Access Hollywood Entertainment Reporter
By Teddy Wayne

Meatloaf: On Commitment, to Varsity Cheerleaders
By Kevin O Cuinn

Beware, the Shark!
By Jamie Allen (7/8/04)

An Aging Kelis, Years from Now, Reflects on a Milkshake Long Expired, but How the Boys, Ah, the Boys Remain
By Jeremy Richards (6/29/04)

Local Radio Station's "'80s Hour" Wants a Second Chance
By Lindsay Hunter

Gregor Samsa, Coach
By Will Layman

Montecore and Roy
By Steve Martin

 

 

- - - -

MAIN PAGE | ARCHIVES



Memories of Amanda Davis




Red dot denotes content that is new today.

Black dot denotes newish content.

McSWEENEY'S STORE

SUBSCRIBE TO:
McSWEENEY'S
THE BELIEVER
WHOLPHIN

FUTURE McSWEENEY'S BOOKS

THE AMANDA DAVIS HIGHWIRE FICTION AWARD

INVITE A McSWEENEY'S AUTHOR TO SPEAK IN YOUR TOWN OR COLLEGE

THE BEST AMERICAN NONREQUIRED READING

McSWEENEY'S MONTHLY MAILING LIST

BOOKSTORES WITH A McSWEENEY'S DISPLAY

McSWEENEY'S-RELATED EVENTS AND VARIOUS TOUR DATES

ORDER INQUIRIES AND ADDRESS CHANGES

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
FOR BOOKS
FOR THE QUARTERLY
FOR THE WEBSITE
FOR WHOLPHIN

McSWEENEY'S INTERNSHIPS

CONTACT US

- - - -

LETTERS TO McSWEENEY'S

LISTS

McSWEENEY'S RECOMMENDS

REVIEWS OF NEW FOOD

NEW WHOLPHIN FILM

DAN LIEBERT, VERBAL CARTOONIST

TEDDY WAYNE'S UNPOPULAR PROVERBS

NON-ESSENTIAL MNEMONICS

BITCHSLAP: A COLUMN ABOUT WOMEN AND FIGHTING

DISPATCHES FROM A GUY TRYING UNSUCCESSFULLY
TO SELL A SONG IN NASHVILLE


GLOBAL WAR ON BEDBUGS: LETTERS FROM BEDBUG CITY

THE CONFLICTED EXISTENCE OF A FEMALE PORN WRITER

OH MY GAWD: A COLUMN ABOUT A TEENAGER NAVIGATING RELIGION

DISPATCHES FROM MANILA

DISPATCHES FROM AN INDIAN CASINO

THE CONVERGENCES CONTEST

CHRIS WHITE ANSWERS PROFOUND
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PRESIDENTS


REPORTS FROM THE PINBALL SCENE

LETTERS FROM THE HELLBOX

NOTES FROM AN AMATEUR SPECTATOR
AT AMATEUR MIXED MARTIAL ARTS FIGHTS


B.R. COHEN'S DAYS AT THE MUSEUM

CONVERSATIONS AT A WARTIME CAFÉ

AND HERE'S THE KICKER:
MIKE SACKS'S CONVERSATIONS WITH HUMOR WRITERS


GRANT MUNROE'S CORPORATE FOLKTALES

SARAH WALKER SHOWS YOU HOW

DISPATCHES FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYER
WHO IS TRYING TO GROW A MUSTACHE


DISPATCHES FROM A HANGDOG BANKRUPT

DISPATCHES FROM THE CAPITAL

DISPATCHES FROM INDIA

THE WINNER'S CIRCLE WITH ERIC FEEZELL

SEAN MICHAELS LISTENS TO MUSIC IN MONTREAL

SHORT IMAGINED MONOLOGUES

KIDS' LETTERS TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

STAINED TEETH: A COLUMN ABOUT WINE

YOUR MONEY, YOUR JOB ... YOUR LIFE, WITH ALISON ROSEN

KEVIN DOLGIN TELLS YOU ABOUT PLACES YOU SHOULD GO IN EUROPE

ABOUT THE WILD THINGS

ABOUT THE CONVALESCENT

ABOUT FEVER CHART

ABOUT GOD SAYS NO

ABOUT ZEITOUN

LETTERS FROM AN EARTH BALL
TO, OR CONCERNING, SEAN HANNITY


E-MAILS SENT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FLAG-FOOTBALL TEAM


TRAVELING EUROPE IN STYLE WITH AUCKLAND DINGIROO,
DARK-AGE TOURIST AND CRITIC OF FOOD AND DRINK


JOHN MOE'S POP-SONG CORRESPONDENCES

INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE INTERESTING OR UNUSUAL JOBS

FLIP: A COLUMN ABOUT SKATEBOARDING

OPEN LETTERS TO PEOPLE OR ENTITIES WHO ARE UNLIKELY TO RESPOND

DISPATCHES FROM A PUBLIC LIBRARIAN

MICHAEL IAN BLACK IS A VERY FAMOUS CELEBRITY

DAN KENNEDY SOLVES YOUR PROBLEMS WITH PAPER

STEPHEN ELLIOTT'S POKER REPORT

- - - -

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL