Button Buto : A Short Story

“Of course they’re not alright you dolt. Why do you think they’re crying? They probably don’t want some nosy neighbor butting in on their buisness” He hears the crying stop. “Umm I mean. Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.” He shoves his face into his pillow. He hears a shaky voice from the other side of the wall. “Who are you?” says a voice Charlie would guess is male. He lifts his head up. “I’m your new neighbor the names Charlie, but I usuallyy go by Char.” The voice from the other side of the wall seemed to brighten. “Like from the book Ella Enchanted?” Char smiled. “Yeah. Hey, you know your the first one to get that?” There were a few moments of silence. “Really? Thats my favorite book. My mom always made fun of me because i was constantly rereading it. It just gave me hope that someday I could find a prince like that.” His voice cracked and I could hear him start to cry again. “Please don’t cry. Just tell me whats wrong and i’ll try to

“I remember sitting in a room with bright lights. I remember a doctor kept asking me questions. I remember telling him how Aunt Helen was the only one who hugged me”.

Smith waiting frantically, “Gosh Isiah you scared me, you’re lucky I covered for you guys”

Claire’s was the first face I saw. Covered in tears, she clutched her mouth with her trembling hand. Next I directed my gaze towards my father, his arms firmly wrapped around my distraught mother. He held her as if he was afraid he would lose her next. The panic on their faces sent my head even further into a spiral. My vision blurred as I fell down a rabbit hole of fear and emotion. Disoriented, I stumbled over my

At that moment, she shrieked out, “Owen is driving me out of my mind!” Not caring if anyone heard her, she screamed as loudly as her lungs permitted. Of course, on the lonesome, unofficial road, no one did. Still, she wished someone, anyone, had heard her cries for help.

Sammy looked around for his girls once again and as he was thinking where they were and what they were doing a loud car horn interrupted his thoughts. He turned around and couldn’t believe what he saw. It was Queenie. She was smiling at looking directly at Sammy. He wasn’t sure whether it was a dream or not but he wanted this moment to last forever. Sammy decided to approach Queenie even though he didn’t know what to say and how to act. The closer he was, the more scenarios of what would happen next, were crossing his mind. Then all of the sudden, the pleasingly sweet voice said:

She nearly slide out of her seat when the car came to a stop, she lifted her head and looked at the male. “Worn someone when you are going to break the car so damn sudden.” She shouted at him. “I could have been killed.” She rolled her eyes. She knew she really wasn’t going to die but she could get badly hurt. “Why did you stop anyways we aren’t…” She turned her head to look out the window, she cocked her head to the side. She arched her brow a little. “Now that’s something you don’t see every day.” She spoke aloud so every in the car could hear

"Who's there? Who's there?" she whispers. I look around but can't figure out where it's coming from. It seems to emanate from inside my skull.

I answered. “Mija, where’s your grandma? Go get her now! It’s important.” that’s all I remembered from that phone call, but the moment I handed my grandmother the phone I saw her bright smile turn into the world’s most darkest frown. Out of the speck of my eyes, I saw small tears running down her face, with big worries she ran quickly to get a sweater and her purse.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Six in the morning on a Monday and people are already ringing my phone. In the process of reaching for my glasses on my nightstand, I knock over a glass of water. I quickly jump out of bed to catch the glass, but I just wasn’t quick enough. Shards of glass all over my bedroom rug, I knew I needed to roll out of bed and clean this mess up. Then I remember the continuously ringing phone that seemed to be ringing for the last five minutes. As I finally grab my phone, I look at the name on the screen and it read Sophia. Why in the world would my sister be calling me at six in the morning? This better be important, otherwise she’s certainly going to think twice before calling this early again. I answer the phone and call her name with frustration, but for a moment Sophia stood in silence. She finally responds and all she could say was that mother is in the emergency room at Riverside Hospital.

As Connie got into the car she felt a wave of grief. She couldn’t get away from the invisible gates surrounding and trapping her as if she were a hunted animal. The ride seemed like a journey, going on forever and ever. Trying to pry information causally, Connie would ask Arnold ,” Where are you taking me?” Arnold just turned around and gave her that sleepy smile of his and , “Don’tcha worry ‘bout a thing honey. You are safe with me.” His smile, that reassuring yet mysterious smile quenched her longing for home and diminished the thought of how her family would think about the absence of their youngest daughter. It seemed to mask her thoughts of how how her cold mother and father would react seeing the their screen door wide open and the music that Connie listened to

"Um... Sylvia?" asked Ana. "Would you mind turning on perception for me? I have no idea where we are or if you turned me into something odd- hey, why does my voice sound all high-pitched

Exhausted, I turned back to the lockers to replace the earrings I had forgotten to remove. Ten minutes later we were buzzed through a series of three doors and instructed to walk calmly through the corridor to my grandmother’s room in the Staunton Clinic mental hospital. There we found her sitting in her room staring blankly at the cold, concrete, walls unable to recognize her own family.

Both my parents burst through the doors, looking slightly concerned. “Mehak, why are you screaming?” My mom questioned. My eyes started to get watery, thinking of all the terrible possibilities, and I got a feeling in my gut that something was wrong. “Grandpa... H-he...w-were t-talking a-and h-he started c-coughing a-and the l-line w-went d-dead.” I stuttered, not knowing what to think. My dad flew out of the room, probably to contact my grandma about what was going on.

“No, please.” She can taste ash, see the cow eyes widen in fear and it’s sinking into her chess. “Why are you crying? It’s not useful anymore. It doesn’t make any more milk.” The ring of a phone interrupts their daydreams. The hospital has forty beds aligned in one room. He’s turned into a shade of yellow.