Those introductions are hard to write.
And I don't even know her, wasn't that great?
So I'm going to read five stories.
This has 39 stories in it, this book--
Monsters.
So some of the stories are very short, just one paragraph.
Some are even a couple of sentences long,
and some are sort of medium, other lengths.
So I'm going to read five.
And I tell you this because if you're like me, you count.
And then you go over, and you go, "What?
She said five.
Or is it six now?"
Anyway, but I'm going to read five.
And stop me if I go beyond that.
And I'm just going to sort of read straight through,
so I can stay within a timely reading.
The Couple.
"At first, Martin was with Erin, then he was with Carol.
But before that, he was with Melanie.
After he left Carol, he went back to Erin,
but then he met Joan and decided to be with her instead of Erin.
Only, he didn't tell Erin, and when she found out,
she blamed Joan.
At the time, Melanie was with Gaylord, but then Gaylord died.
So she began to be with Martin, since Joan was away
most of the time, though she and Martin both denied they
were with each other to Joan.
Dana wasn't with anyone, but Martin secretly
longed to be with Dana, but he wouldn't admit this to Joan.
Melanie, meanwhile, met Luke and told
Joan she would be with him for a long, long time.
And finally, Dana met someone who kept changing his name,
but she seemed happy with him for at least a week and a half.
Martin recommitted to Joan since the others were taken,
but Joan wasn't sure she wanted to be with anyone.
Erin really wanted to be with Martin and hated Joan,
and Joan was tired of all the drama.
She told Martin he should be with Erin
and that she, Joan, would be with no one,
since being with no one is what she most desired,
since it entailed no drama.
The older she got, the less tolerant she was of drama,
said Joan.
But Martin enjoyed the drama and refused to give her up."