Short Horror Stories

Button Day

"Yes, I made plans! What the hell is going on this morning?"

No one answered her. They were staring at her as if she'd took a hot, steaming pile of poo on her plate. She got up, pushing her plate away. "You know what? Forget it."

"Laura, stop this, right now," her mother snapped. "You knew perfectly well what we were doing today. It's been planned for a long time. Now you can just call Michael and tell him why you're not seeing him."

"That's just it!" Laura yelled. "What do I tell him? I don't know why I can't go! It's just you telling me I can't!"

"It's Button Day," her brother said. "That's why."

"Button Day?" she cried. "What the hell are you all talking about? I've never heard of Button Day! You're all acting like-" She suddenly stopped, comprehension dawning on her face. Her family were playing a joke on her. This was all a joke. With a warm rush, a huge weight lifted from her shoulders. Now she understood.

"Very funny, guys," she said, her voice calm and collected. "You really had me going there." She turned and left the room, heading for the front door. As she went, her mother called after her, "Laura! Please be back in an hour, we can't leave without you, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Laura called back. "I wouldn't want to miss Button Day, would I?"

The short walk to Michael's house gave Laura enough time to feel guilty about how angry she had gotten with her family. As she'd gotten older, her temper had shortened. She planned on apologizing later - she had an hour, right? Wasn't that what her mother had said?

'I wonder where we're going', Laura thought, watching a plane a few miles above cut a white line across the sky. Or was that a joke too? Was it that they really were going out, and it had been a planned thing, and she had simply forgotten all about it?

She could see Michael's house, with the white fence and broad front lawn. She began to jog, eager to see him. As she crossed his driveway the front door opened and Michael came out with a look of shock on his face. He had seen her coming up the street.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Laura asked, and to her dismay he suddenly looked a little angry. "You shouldn't be here," he said.

"What, did we fight, and I missed the memo?"

"You told me this was your family's Button Day," he said, and there was movement behind him.

Laura blinked, her mouth open in surprise. A blonde girl came to the door, squinting in the light, and slinked her arm around Michael. She was wearing a nightshirt and nothing else, and her hair was tousled.

"Go home," the blonde said, and Laura backed away, blinking back sudden tears. Michael would not meet her eyes, so she turned and ran.

Her mother caught her just as she was about to run into her bedroom.

She pulled Laura close, holding her as she sobbed. "I know, I know. Let it all out." She stroked Laura's hair, rocking her a little. "Men are buttheads, aren't they?"

Laura pulled back to look at her mother, sniffing. "...You know?"

"You've just come back from his place in floods of tears. It doesn't take a genius to work out what happened."

"He's got himself a blonde. A blonde! I'll bet that's why he wanted me to dye my hair!"

She cried for a little longer, and her mother held her. "There, there. Come on. Let's get you changed for our trip."

"...So we are going out?"

"Of course we are, silly! Here we are, this is a nice blouse. Your best, I think. Put this on, I want us looking our best for our Button Day."