“The Button”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: “Do I have to?”

“Do I have to?” I whisper to Katya.

“Yes,” she replies, her voice curt.

“But does it have to be me?”

“Yes.”

“Can’t Dennis do it?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“But–“

“Just do it.”

“Kat–“

“Ellie.” Katya fixes me in a stern glare. “Just do it. It’ll be over before you know it.”

“But I really don’t want to.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“I really, really, really don’t want to.”

“I know.”

“What if Trevor did it instead?”

“No.”

“Hoover?”

“No.”

“Muriel?”

“No. It has to be you.”

“But why?”

“Because.”

“That’s an awful reason.”

At this, Katya just shrugs. She stares at me for a moment before clenching her jaw.

“Come on, Ellie, just get this over with.”

I let out a long sigh. “Fine. But know that I’m not happy doing this.”

“Okay.”

Slowly, I make my way across the room. I take a deep breath and raise a trembling finger.

“Katya, are you sure I have to–“

“Just do it.”

I can hear the impatience growing in her voice, so I suck in a deep breath and squeeze my eyes tightly shut. I force my arm to move my hand which moves my finger forward.

The pad of my index finger touches the cold surface of the plastic button. A sharp click resounds as I press the button.

“See, now was that so hard?” Katya asks.

I open my eyes to see her grinning. A cold sweat covers my body as I stare at the button.

“Yes,” I whisper, glad that we’re in a soundproof room.

Final Comments: Oops this became a lot darker than I had originally intended it to be…

Overall Rating: 😬