Author's Note: My cherubs, whenever you think you've had a bad day, please think of me. As horrible as your day was today, I can probably guarantee you that mine was worse.

Day Fifty-Five: Girl With the Red Balloon by The Civil Wars

"Who is that girl? I've seen her so many times here before," the exotic-looking brunette asked the bartender.

The bartender finished serving the woman her drink. "I don't know. She doesn't really say much."

The woman behind the counter thought for a minute. "She's…she always has that lost look in her eyes. It looks like love, and at the same time, she looks so alone," she noted aloud.

The patron took in the woman's appearance. She was wearing a simple calico dress and was very thin. Her lips looked a stained red color. Her brown eyes, as the bartender noted, were glazed over and looked tired. She looked tired.

"So she comes here often?" the patron asked.

The bartender nodded. "I could never figure out why. We're on the outskirts and it's not very interesting here." The bartender thought for a moment as she stared at the girl across the pub. "She used to come here with a man. That must've been…years ago. Maybe three or four. Back when she was still young and lively and beautiful." She thought again as she came back from her recollections. "Well, she still is beautiful, but she's aged dramatically. And I think she may be a little bit…crazy."

The woman turned and stared at the bartender. "What makes you say that?"

Crazy. It seemed like such a taboo word to apply to the situation.

The bartender was silent before she spoke. "About a week after she stopped coming here with that man…before she started coming here regularly, by herself…she began talking to me about someone. She kept referring to a man—I guess the one she'd come here with—but she never gave him a name. And then I think she realized I thought she was crazy. She stays over there when she comes. She comes and stays from noon until night…drinking."

The patron looked at the girl with some kind of sadness. She wondered if the girl knew who she was to everyone else. She wondered if the girl realized that she was like the widow by any other name.

"Do you know what happened to him?"

The bartender thought for a moment. "There's been…speculation, I guess."

The patron raised her eyebrow.

"Sometimes, she comes in and she wears a ring. On those days, she drinks even more. I guess…maybe it reminds her of him. Maybe he…left. But then again…maybe she let him go."

Maybe she let him go.

LittleBittyAbby: You can pretty much say anything and I'll respond. I'm weird. I'm good with things like that. Don't be shy. I'm shy in real life, but obviously over the internet, I'm not! That sentence sounded a lot stupider than I intended it to.

tobyequalshottness:It seems that the thought of Toby Cavanaugh/Keegan Allen being a superhero brings out the estrogen in all of us...

MizzIsTheFizz:Thank you for the suggestion (ugh, feel free to hate me for what I'm about to tell you, since I hate it when people do this to me), but I actually came up with an idea that will appease some readers who keep asking me to do something like this. It'll be a bit different from my other stories. I'd never make it a multi-chap, since I don't condone the behaviour in any sort, but a one-shot is good because it's just one one-shot. Sorry I'm being very vague as well. I wish I could like stay up until midnight on a school night and not be tired, but I stay up until even eleven and I'm exhausted at school. Honestly? Extra cheese. I don't really like toppings on most of my pizza (not that I could eat it anyway if I tried; I can't eat pepperoni or chicken cutler or sausage or meatball on pizza). I just really love cheese. I wish there was a Pizza Hut where I live, that way I could order an extra-cheese pizza with the cheese stuffed crust. It's disgustingly delicious. My health teacher pretty much summed up my life today: the better it tastes, the unhealthier it is.

Guest (Sarah):You're so sweet! So if I publish an original novel, you're going to buy it at the store and read it, right? JK, don't feel pressured to answer that. But I do really want to publish a book. I just need a good idea, though! All of my ideas are already taken or mediocre.

AL3110: Oh, yeah, Tobey Maguire was also Nick in The Great Gatsby, right? He was AMAZING. I loved him. But Spencer is in denial! Remember? She's a "modern feminist". Then again, Toby is alpha male, which makes being a modern feminist very hard...or at least, I've heard. No offense, I don't even think it's a hot name. IDK but Toby is obviously hot. I just don't think...hmm, which names are attractive? Tobias? Yes, I'm going to find a guy and I REALLY HOPE HIS NAME IS TOBIAS. I don't say stuff like that.

I'm just going to lie here and cry for a while because I have school tomorrow and I don't want to go and I don't even have any stupid preps. Or Latin. Which is like a prep. Because my Latin teacher takes like twenty five minutes out of class just to tell us to STFU (and I'm not lying; he literally says to STFU).

Okay I'm going to crawl in my hole now and cuddle up and watch some movies but oh wait I can't do that I hate everything.

On the other hand, I've been awfully productive today. I mean, I not only uploaded this, but I also uploaded Stay Stay Stay AND ENCHANTED and OMG I even started #68. One-shot NUMBER 68. I'm that way ahead! I'm so proud of myself! You guys should expect to hear from me like everyday. I'm really excited for the next few one-shots, particularly #57, #59, #60, #62, #66, and #67. In the future, looking ahead, #69 should be fun (and different!), #71, #73, #75 (better not offend the Queen/Princess), #77 (ooh, it's the Goddess/Queen again!), #79 (bow down to the Queen/Princess again), and #80 (I'll try not to insult the Duchess with my shoddy writing).

So now you may want to know what the next song is. I get the impression this one might be controversial. It's a mashup by Glee, if you must know: Crazy/You Drive Me Crazy by Aerosmith/Britney Spears. Yes, I know, it is probably a sin that you take one of the most epic rock bands of all time and mash them with Britney Spears' music. But at least it's not the crap we listen to today. At least it's Britney when she was actually kind of decent.

Okay, I'll stop talking now.

And for those of you who aren't already, it would mean a lot of you could check out Stay Stay Stay. And also, what should I nickname it? SSS or 3S? -Kayson

P.S: Stop judging me, AL.