Notes

"Olive Buttons"
By J.HC.
A Coraline-inspired story
Written on November 9th, 2023.

Buttons.
The kind meant to be sewn onto a coat or a shirt, or the kind the tiny look-alike doll of him had for eyes.
Now, they wanted to sew buttons onto his eyes.

He had been told that he could stay there forever, that all he needed to do was replace his eyes with buttons. When presented with this offer of acceptance, he had merely stared. The buttons were round, perfectly round, and black as the night sky outside. Four tiny holes punctured each one, and should he accept this display of twisted kindness, dark thread would flow through each one and tie together in the ultimate design.
At first, he had truly considered his Other parents' proposition, especially when they offered to turn the buttons from black to olive, which he much preferred. It was true that he would much rather stay in the strange and wondrous Other World, where he gorged on as much cake as he wanted, shot things with his slingshot and was never scolded for doing so, ran all through the house with shoes muddy as can be.... where people paid attention to him.
However, the more he entertained the idea, the more it made his stomach turn anxiously and his mouth run dry. It would hurt, wouldn't it? When his dear Other Mother went to sew them in, it would pinch, at the very least. And what of his vision? Would he still be able to see afterwards? He couldn't guarantee that.
He had begun to tremble now, unable to tear his eyes away from the tiny buttons in the box, and had quickly shoved the box in question away. He paid no mind to his Other parents' concerned remarks as he made his way to the kitchen door and dashed outside.

He ran all through the garden, through the gates and over the bridge, not giving a single glance at any of the beautiful flora surrounding him. His mind was not on the beauty of this world anymore, but rather on the dullness of his own. He no longer cared if his true father worked early in the day and late at night, if his real mother was too ill to do anything for him, if he was scolded every few minutes for being "such a naughty child." He'd take it all back, all of it. It beat having buttons for eyes.
He ran and ran and ran, running farther than he had ever dared to go before. There were mountains in the distance, right? Or, at least, large hills. He wasn't sure. Regardless of what they were, he would head in that direction, and perhaps he could find his way home from there. His shoes and socks were continuously dirtied as he went along, mud splashing up at him, and at one point, he tripped, creating a true mess all over his clothes and face.
Wiping dirt from his face and grumbling to himself, he got to his feet and looked forward once more, only for his stomach to drop at the sight before him. He was.... back at the house? But how?? He had run away from it, hadn't he? Had he perhaps taken a wrong turn? Looking around, however, he knew he hadn't.... and he knew the only true way to get home was through that little door. With the way he had reacted to the buttons, though, would his Other parents' let him go? They might sense that he was never to return.

Upon opening the door, he found them both still in the kitchen, having just finished cleaning up from supper. They turned their attention to him and grinned with relief. "Oh, darling, there you are!! We were so worried about you." His Other Mother cooed. "My, just look at what you've done to your clothes!!"
His Other Father chuckled. "Were we playing hide and seek in the rain again?" He asked. "You should've told me, sport!! I know all the best hiding places."
"Perhaps another time, dear. We've had all our fun for now." The Other Mother said. "Now that we've gotten that out of our system...."
She pulled the box of buttons from the pocket of her apron and held them out to him. ".... I'm sure we can be reasonable now, yes?"
He stared at the box once more, eyes wide and worried. There was no true way out of this, was there? No, he realized, there wasn't. He was to have buttons sewn into his eyes, and he would remain here forever, never to see his own world and family ever again.
".... Yes." Sh e replied softly, taking the box.
"Yes, what?" The Other Mother asked. Though her eyes were replaced with buttons, her gaze seemed to grow firm.
"Yes.... Mother."