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I've continued with a monologue a day until the spirit moves me to stop, so if you have any ideas for a monologue you want me to write, please let me know at tigerteam1@gmail.com.
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Monologue Mania Day #942 The Lucky One (revised) by Janet S. Tiger (c) Sept. 11, 2015
Original post Day #576 The Lucky One by Janet S. Tiger Sept. 11, 2015
The Lucky One
(in honor of 9/11)
A monologue by Janet S. Tiger
© all rights reserved
(The woman who enters is carrying a large box of kleenex, which she places on a table.)
I like to be prepared. After you hear, you'll understand.....and you may want some of these yourself.
You see, I was fired. Never good to be fired.....or so you would think. And it wasn't done on a Friday. All the other times I've been "let go" were on Fridays. End of the week, end of the pay cycle, end of the job.
So when I was called in at 4:30 pm on Monday, I thought it was for some more work, something else to take home. I was a personal assistant to one of the account executives - a job that used to be called 'executive secretary' but that title changed. Not the pay, just the title.
When Mr. Carrington told me, I was so shocked, my mouth actually hung open. Like this...
(She illustrates)
And I just said, 'what?' He explained that the company was 'restructuring' and my job was being merged with two others - meaning that one person was now going to service three executives instead of one......so, in actuality, those were his exact words....'in actuality' they were doing ME a favor by firing me, so that I could get unemployment now, and that should help. Help! Now there's a great word!
(She looks around, seeing it again)
Funny, this happened fourteen years ago and I can see it all, frozen in my brain, just like it was yesterday. And so I went to leave, and he told me I should take all my things right away, that tomorrow the decorators were coming to re-design the work space, and I wouldn't want my things disturbed. (Sarcastic) He was so concerned about my things.....
(Sighs) Five years. I was there over five years. And they didn't have the decency to allow me to say goodbye to my friends......So I took all my stuff and staggered down in the elevator to my car. And when I got home, I cried. And called my friends, who told me I'd find something better. And I should come in on Tuesday, and they'd make a party for me at lunch......
So I cried myself to sleep that night.....I had terrible dreams, and then ......
(She starts to shake)
and then, the next morning.....I slept in, and....my husband was sick, so he was home, too, and he shook me awake......(as husband) Honey, get up! Something horrible is happening! And he turned on the TV in our bedroom......and I watched as an airplane struck right into the office where I had just been fired!
(She takes a kleenex and blows her nose)
Dead! Everyone in that office who was there that day! All my friends, Jessie and Alice, Peter, Lex......all gone......no one had a cold that day......they were healthy enough to go to work......so they were all......gone!
Except me......I was....the lucky one. How does luck work? Who decides? Every minute of every day, something can happen, but why? Why did I get fired on that Monday....to that I could be home on Tuesday? I stopped asking those questions after a few years, but I decided if I was alive, I could use what life I had to change my life. I never went back to being a secretary. I went back to school. I started my own business, helping families in crisis. No one knows what's going to happen on any one day....in any one minute. That's how we are all equal on this earth.
So now I look at it differently. Some things, they just can't be controlled.
They died in a fire, but I was alive because I'd been.....fired.
(She turns to leave, stops, looks back)
And so, every Sept 11th, I cry...because I'm the one lucky enough to be able to cry.
(She holds out the box of kleenex to the audience)
We can share.......because - right at this minute now - we're all the lucky ones....
(She exits through the crowd, to hand out the kleenexes as a reminder that today is a day to be remembered forever.)
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For those wondering - yes, this was based on a true story.....one of many from that day.
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For those wondering - yes, this was based on a true story.....one of many from that day.
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Janet S. Tiger 858-736-6315 CaregiversAnon.org
JanetSTigerMonologueMania.blogspot.com
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983
Playwright-in-Residence
Swedenborg Hall 2006-8
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* Note: A few words about 'free' - all these monologues are protected under copyright law and are free to read, free to perform and video as long as no money is charged. Once you charge admission or a donation, or include my work in an anthology, you need to contact me for royalty info.
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