Button Day
Laura was woken by her father; something that he had not done since she was a child. As her thoughts slowly swam back into focus, she was suddenly sure that she had slept naked and he had seen her, but to her relief she was wearing her baby-blue pyjamas. God, what was he doing in here anyway?
“Come on, you,” he said brightly, opening the curtains and letting the sunlight in. Outside, she could hear a lawnmower running, perhaps in the next street, and what could’ve been birdsong. “It’s Button Day, remember? Get dressed, put something nice on. We’re leaving in an hour.”
Laura stirred, her voice groggy. “Dad, what the hell? Couldn’t you just knock? What if I’d slept nude?”
He didn’t look at her, he was too busy admiring his garden from the window. “Oh, you’ve nothing I haven’t seen before. I’m your bloody father, I‘ve wiped your arse many a time before now.”
“Not the point, Dad.“ Squinting, Laura sat up, rubbing her eyes, and remembered what he’d just said.
“Dad, did you just say ‘Button Day’?”
“Well, yeah. What, did you forget?” He laughed as he crossed the room to the door. “You were only talking about it last night.”
“Wait - what?” She frowned, not understanding. Something was wrong here. A fine way to start the day, really. She hadn’t even gotten out of bed yet, and she was already getting weird shit. “What are you talking about?”
He shook his head, still smiling as he left the room. “Get dressed. Breakfast is ready.”
He left her sitting up in bed, holding the covers to her breasts, a look of confusion on her face. Eventually she got out of bed, and began to pull some clothes on that were to hand. Familiar sounds floated up to her from downstairs: pots and pans rattling, the TV on low, the muffled tones of her family talking to each other, a short, harsh laugh - her brother. No doubt laughing at the TV.
She did her zipper on her jeans, and stood for a second before finally saying out loud, “Button Day?”
Downstairs, her mother was washing the dishes, humming to herself. Sunlight filled the room, making it warm and fresh. Her father and brother were sitting at the table, eating toast. There was a plate set for her, and she sat down, pulling it towards her.
Her brother was wearing a crisp white shirt - and he never wore shirts. She doubted that he even owned one. This was one of her father’s, she recognised it.
“What’s with the shirt?” She asked, picking her toast up, and his eyes never left the TV, which was typical of him. A year younger than her at fourteen, he was arrogant and know it all to boot.
“It’s Button Day, isn’t it?” He mumbled through a mouthful of toast, and her mother turned around, and tutted loudly at him.
“Mark, don’t talk with your mouth full.” She saw Laura and sighed. “Laura, you could dress a little better than that. At least make an effort.”
“What for?” Laura said, then looked at the ceiling, irritated. “Oh wait, let me guess. Button Day. Am I missing something here?”
Her mother shook her head, turning back to the dishes. “Don’t be so childish, Laura. It doesn’t suit you. Please make sure you get changed into something else before we leave.”
“I wanted to see Michael today. I’m not going with you, sorry.”
A hush fell over the kitchen as everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at her in surprise. Warily, Laura said, “What?”
“Are you crazy?” Her brother asked. “You can’t go out today, you’re coming with us!”
“Laura, you made plans? Today, of all days?” Her father asked, and she pushed back on her chair as a dull anger rose in her.
“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 crap 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 apologising 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 Michaels house from here, 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 bastards, 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.”
Laura’s stomach rolled lazily. She suddenly remembered Michael mentioning Button Day, too. This wasn’t a joke. This was real. It was all real, and she didn’t have a clue what was happening.
“Mom, listen to me a minute. Something here is very wrong.”
“I know. You really liked him, I know you did. It’s terrible that he’s upset you, on this day, of all days.”
“That’s just it, Mum - I don’t know anything about Button Day. I’ve never heard of it, and since this morning I feel as if I’m the only one who hasn’t the faintest idea what’s going on!”
“Well, to be honest, I’m no expert. I know it was the Governments idea to combat overcrowding, but other than that-”
“No, no. I mean at all. I’ve never heard of it.”
There was an uneasy silence, in which her mother looked at her for a long time. Her mouth was set in a hard line.
When she finally spoke, her voice was calm. “I know you’re upset, so I’ll play along with your little prank, okay? Just get changed - here’s your blouse - and I’ll see you in the car in five minutes, okay? We’re waiting for you.”
Her mother walked away, leaving Laura alone and frightened, her best blouse in her trembling hands.
The next thing she knew, she was in the car. Everything was flowing by in a fluid, carefree motion that made her feel more and more uneasy. What the hell was going on? Why did she not recall anything about this day that everyone was talking about?
She could see everything in absurd detail, slowed down to super slow motion: The fluff on the back of her mothers headrest. A bit of stubble that her fathers razor had missed. A crack in the pavement as they passed. She suddenly felt more lucid than she had ever felt in her whole life, yet she was unable to speak, trapped inside her own body. It was as if she were a puppet, walking on strings made from fear’s own web.
Somewhere deep inside, she was still clinging to an ocean-battered rock of hope, a charred crater of sense that told her that this was all a massive joke, a huge, elaborate hoax. As they pulled up outside the white, box-like building, squat and stern, that hope faded.
“Here we are,” her father said cheerfully, and she felt herself pull the door handle and step out of the car. She stood trembling in the sun like a baby deer, the building bearing down on her as if it had teeth.
Acting as if they were at the seaside, her family got out of the car, chatting animatedly. They set off towards the main entrance, Laura trailing behind. A sign stood over them: GOVERNMENT PROPERTY - KEEP OUT. She saw the security cameras watching them, and hurried after her family, her footsteps flat and dead.
The door to the building was made of glass, and as they pushed through into the clean lobby, Laura saw a receptionist busily typing on a computer. The receptionist looked up with a professional smile at her father as he approached.
“Hi, we’re the Krandalls. Here for our Button Day,” he said, and she smiled.
“Go on through, sir. Just keep walking that way.”
Her father thanked her, and on they went, down a long brightly lit corridor, lined with brass plaques which gleamed. There was something engraved on them all, blocks and blocks of text, and she drew closer as she walked to see what it was. She saw her own reflection looking back at her, and in the harsh fluorescent lights, she looked haggard.
Names. Hundreds and hundreds of names, thousands of names, one after another. Hogg. Wilson. Carpenter. Buxton. Bell. Palmer. Rowe. Brown. The list went on, seemingly endless.
Her family walked on, still chatting as if they were on holiday, and up ahead the corridor was coming to an end.
The corridor opened up into a large, white room. In this room, four small, waist high pillars stood, each with a red button on the top. Beyond them was a long polished desk, with three Government officials seated at it. The Government insignia hung on a huge banner over it all. The room was silent, and sterile.
Laura watched her family each step up to a pillar, watching the officials expectantly, leaving a pillar for her. Her very own button. Trembling, she stepped up to the pillar, only to notice with a jolt that the floor around them all was on a slight incline, angled towards a drain behind that she hadn’t noticed when she had first arrived. One of the officials spoke, his voice echoing in the open space.
“Krandall family. The Government has deemed this to be your Button Day. We thank you for your sacrifice to your country, and to your people. Your names shall join those in the long Hall in your honour.”
“We’re proud,” her father said, and her mother nodded, sincere. Her brother looked as if he were about to weep with pride.
The official continued. “Then please, in your own time, push your buttons. May God be with you all.”
Her father turned to his wife, his son, and his daughter, and smiled. “I’ll go first, to show you how easy it is.” He pushed the button on the pillar, and it depressed with a loud, satisfying click.
As Laura watched, her fathers face turned red, as if he’d been jogging. She remembered how easily flustered he got with exercise, and assumed he’d just walked too fast down the corridor, or something. That was when a crimson teardrop slid down his cheek, and plopped fatly onto the hard, white floor.
Laura watched, frozen, as blood began to pour from her fathers eyes, nose, ears and mouth. It ran down his shirt, over the belt that she had bought him for his birthday, and down his trousers. It splattered onto the floor. All at once, his eyes burst like over-ripe plums and hung on his cheeks, still connected by red strings. Liquefied brain ran from his eye sockets.
As his body crumpled to the floor, her mother and brother looked at each other and smiled, pushing their buttons at the same time. They turned to Laura, holding their hands out, blood seeping from their eyes and noses, tricking from their mouths. They assumed Laura had pushed hers, too.
Laura drew in a breath to scream, but the soft pop of her mothers and brothers eyeballs made it catch in her throat. They fell over backwards, landing on top of each other. Blood was being channelled to the drain, which drank quietly.
All was silent.
“Miss Krandell?”
Numb, she saw the officials watching her closely.
“Miss Krandell, overpopulation is destroying our towns and cities. Your country needs your action today.”
She stared wide-eyed at the official. To her side, her brothers hand twitched, the last of the nerve impulses fading. Blood was already congealing in his empty eye sockets.
The official was standing up slowly, and she saw that he was a tall man. Taller than most, no doubt.
“Humanity has called,” he said, his voice dropping to almost a whisper. The world had faded away to the button under her fingertips. It was smooth and red. Pushable.
“…Will you answer?”
Posted in Strange & Unknown
August 25th, 2008 at 1:30 am
Ooh, this is very well-written, less like a creepypasta andmore like a short story. Do you know who the author is? Was this published anywhere?
I want to read more of this author’s works!
August 25th, 2008 at 1:36 am
Yeah who wrote this? It’s genius.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:45 am
It reminds me a bit of DuMaurier’s “The Lottery”, in both theme and style.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:51 am
The plot is great. However, it’s a bit too detailed for a short story, all of the paragraphs before her family kills themselves are full of irrelevant details that I just skimmed over. Also, the “cliffhanger” ending was like a bitter aftertaste, I wish whoever wrote this would have come up with a real ending.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:59 am
This was the best thing I’ve read yet today. Absolutely my favorite creepypasta.
Just…wow.
Does it remind anyone else of the blue-handed men in Firefly? With their blue glowsticks that did pretty much what the buttons did?
Haha, instant ebola.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:06 am
Holy fucking shit O______O
Kinda makes you wonder if the government would ever actually do something like that to control the population.
Wow…
Other than a couple of typos, I think this was very, VERY well written. Definitely one of my favorite creepypastas.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:09 am
OHSHI-
This was so good, it made me nauseated. It took forever to get to the point, but that just added to the suspense. The ending, I will never forget.
Congradulations, this pasta wins.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:15 am
Why the hell would someone willingly do that? I don’t get it, at all.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:18 am
That’s genius. Who wrote it? I would definitely read some more.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:24 am
How’s THAT for a good story. Wow…just wow…that’s insane.
You get that hopeless feeling when she wakes up and doesn’t have a clue what Button Day is.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:39 am
@Sara:
I suppose it’s because they believe that it is for the sake of their country. You know, become “an hero” to help the population and you’ll get your name on a plaque like those who have died in war.
I, however, would be like, “Fuck this, I’m changing my identity.”
I’m terrible at explanations, sorry ^^;
August 25th, 2008 at 3:02 am
WHO WAS PHONE?, you are one sexy, dedicated muthafucka. Please keep the creepypastas coming!
August 25th, 2008 at 3:32 am
@3
Why the hell would anyone willingly torture and kill the Jews in the name of the National Socialist Party of Germany?
August 25th, 2008 at 3:33 am
omg I absolutely adored this creepypasta
it was written from a girl’s perspective so I could easily feel the emotions she was feeling
I like it was written realistic almost like this could actually happen in a distant future.
It’s amazing the things people will do after a little brain washing :[
August 25th, 2008 at 4:22 am
DUDE WTF!!! DID THE GIRL PUSHED THE BUTTON OR WHAT HAPPENED?!?!
WHO WAS PHONE?!?!?!?11
August 25th, 2008 at 4:25 am
@1&2 - I have no idea. I found it with no credited author, and googling “button day” came up with lots of sewing sites & a few results about the LHC, but nothing about this story, at least on the first few pages. So if anyone knows, I’d love to credit them. They obviously put a lot of effort into this story!
August 25th, 2008 at 4:47 am
THEN WHO WAS RED BUTTON??
Sorry.
Really.
Anyway, I like this one A LOT.
But what I don’t get is why they had to die so gruesomely, if when you pressed the button you were vaporized instantly it would seem better.
But then it wouldn’t be creepypasta, would it? I’m getting eye aches right now.
I await Mr. Welldone’s review.
August 25th, 2008 at 5:28 am
Reminds me of the final story in Chuck Palahniuk’s “Haunted”, ‘cept that the female main character there knew exactly what the “emigration” process entailed, and refused to participate before it was too late.
August 25th, 2008 at 9:57 am
It sounds like something that would be stuffed somewhere in one of the NIN year zero sites =D Fantastic!
August 25th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
wow… though i saw that coming - a really really well written story.
August 25th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
i agree with vince [comment 4]
the beginning bit has just irrelevent whatever…who cares about her boyfriend? he’s uneccessary, and the blond he’s with?…arent they 15? why is she scantily clad?
and y wud her family b all happy?…is this trying to seem like 1984, false happy because they don’t know better?
wen the family finally came to the office the story started to pick up…and u can tell that whether she pushes the button or not, she’s totally gonna die
August 25th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
that scared brix out of me *awsome*
August 25th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Hello, Sigma.
While I am aware that humanity inflicts some of the most inspiring of horrors upon itself, many such horrors are of a world I am not a part of.
Also, humanity has been a bit dull as of late.
I put little stock in such words as government, for it is simply yet more humanity.
Humanity’s collective idea of government has as much authority over me as a worthless servant, begging for release from the anguish I am visiting upon him in payment for his disobedience.
As such, the concepts of power at play here are paltry, at best.
I speak of grasping the animating force of the cosmos in one’s very hands, and this story speaks of such a woefully uninteresting concept as death.
I do not fear death.
I long for it.
This story is of little interest to me.
August 25th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I enjoyed this pasta because its very different from everything else ive read. it was sort of predictable (after reading the book Haunted I sort of noticed the resemblance) and the ending does make one wonder.
However I dont think I would of pushed the button.
When I die, I want to die for something worth dying for(not overpopulation that could be rid with with a few changes) or unexpectedly, like most.
August 25th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Holy shit. I really really like this one. Less of a pasta, more of a story, either way I want to read more.
August 25th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Dammit. i got halfway through with no “WHO WAS BUTTON” then bam…there it was. Its a really great story, very well written. Her boyfriend is still a dick for replacing her so quickly though.
August 25th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Maybe they should make a program like this to get rid of losers from the earth.
Sucks for the girl though :p
August 25th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
wow this was just amazing.
August 25th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
An Amazing Writer
Who wrote this piece, and where can I find more like it?
August 25th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
This made me cry. Amazing.
August 25th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
that was awesome…
August 25th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Amazing. Easily one of the best creepypastas I have ever read.
August 25th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
@ Mr. Welldone.
Stop being so pretentious. It was a great story.
August 25th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
totally boring i hate it
August 25th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Someone PLEASE write an ending to this story that involves her not pushing the button and running away form the government. This story has potential still, it shouldnt be over yet!
BUTTON DAY PART II
Cmon someone break the usual CreepyPasta formula and another part where there is an actual end. Develop the characters. This story deserves it.
tl;dr MORE BUTTON DAY.
August 25th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
The story wasn’t creepy, MR Welldone was..
August 25th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Mr.Welldone is always pretentious, ’tis why I > wtf is that about?
August 25th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
tis why I <3 him ** stupid keyboard with keys that don’t click when I hit them.
August 25th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
HOSHIT!
I liked that one because it was well written and clever, and I hated it because I want Laura to run the fuck away from there screaming her head off.
@Ma Cherie: Something like that couldnt happen, not in our lifetimes. Those people went WILLINGLY to die, and if the goverment ever tried to get people WILLINGLY to kill themselves the world’s leaders would find themselves surrounded by angry Texans who ‘just happened’ to have a few thousand shotguns and bullets in their basements for such an ocasion.
When humanity cuts it close, and the populace get too squished down we have a history of replacing those in charge to ones that suit us. It may take hundreds upon hundreds of years, and a whole load of wars, but Czar Nicholas still gets shot, Marie Antoinette’s head still gets chopped, and Saddam is still strung up in the end.
August 25th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Also, I agree with ‘Random Reader’.
Mr. Welldone, If you want to die and cant you’ve obviously are ‘DOIN’ IT RONG’. Talk to the Emo’s, they know the ways of self termination if you dont mind having to put on ‘guy-liner’.
August 25th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
I don’t get why she didn’t know what “Button Day” was.
Why was she the only one in her family that didn’t know what was going on?
August 25th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
What I don’t understand is how she had no idea what Button Day was when everyone else did.
August 25th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
The part about her boyfriend getting a new girlfriend was merely foreshadowing. He got a new girlfriend because he knew his old one was going to die when it came for her Button Day.
August 26th, 2008 at 12:51 am
The father’s dialogue at the beginning where he says “I’m your bloody father. I’ve wiped your arse many a time before now.” This suggests this is Scotland or Ireland?
August 26th, 2008 at 2:14 am
If whoever wrote this doesn’t come forward, I’ma make a movie about it and they can’t sue me for copyright violation.
It’d make a hell of a movie, you know. x3
August 26th, 2008 at 4:20 am
This was great! It kinda reminds me of “Funny Games”
August 26th, 2008 at 4:58 am
Governments would never do this to families. It would probably be something a lot less horrifying to watch, such as shuffling all of the family members into a giant furnace or posioning them. Something painless, if the money’s right.
I just realised that I have suggested what Hitler did and just called it humane by comparison. Wow.
August 26th, 2008 at 5:19 am
whoever wrote this, well done it kept me entertained for a few minutes
August 26th, 2008 at 6:16 am
Hmmm. It was really well written but the ending was a bit sudden and kind of broke it I think.
Why didn’t Laura know what Button Day was? I really think this needs some kind of answer. I know it was too add to our suspense but by not giving a reason at the end the “why” of it overshadows the big reveal of the execution.
Why make the death so gruesome. I can understand people being brain washed into thinking killing themselves for their country is a good idea, but watching your loved ones faces pop/bleed/etc is not something you could just smile about… I don’t think any amount of brain washing would make me shrug that off.
Why families? Why not criminals, or other “non-productive” people… Ok, that’s a moot point as the justice system, etc, isn’t discussed in the story.
But the biggest thing… Why random execution?! If you can convince families to melt their faces off then surely you can convince them to have no more than two children per family. Over a couple of generations that would allow the infastructure of a country to catch up with its population and even reduce it to some degree. It would surely be more effective than a death lotto and that way useful members of society wouldn’t be lost to random chance.
A very well written story, but the creepiness kind of collapses in on itself.
Also, “arse” is used in all of Britain, not just Scotland and Ireland.
August 26th, 2008 at 9:51 am
very well written but it wasnt that creepy
August 26th, 2008 at 11:57 am
this is goood
August 26th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
wow…just wow… this was so good!! I wish the person who wrote it would tell us who they are this was incredible!!!! I hope the government doesn’t get ideas from this >->’
August 26th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
i knew what was coming the second her mother was talking about ‘the government’ dun dun dunnnn
i didn’t think their faces shudve popped tho…and y was the guy at the end taller than normal guys?…perhaps he shud b executed for being so unnaturally tall…and who are they to choose who dies or not? stupid govt privileges!
how did they brainwash the ppl and just happen to miss laura?
her bf is a cunt btw, just cuz u kno ur gf’s gonna die doesn’t mean u shud hav a new slut on the side ><
i still kinda see this as a ‘big brother’ 1984 type thing…
our govts are watching us and tapping into our fone lines [c’mon ppl, the u.s. govt has killed loads of ppl secretly cuz of the patriot act i’m sure]
i wont b so shocked if this started happening in our lifetime…-cough cough- china -cough-
August 26th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
@The Person formerly know as ‘Noneya’
Ahh, you have a point there. Angry Texans ftw.
August 26th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Wasted my time reading this.
August 26th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
i feel sorry for the janitor who has OCD that has to clean up the mess. i bet that button is tempting.
August 26th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Logan’s Run. Ripoff of a movie.
August 26th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Can someone Tl;dr it?
August 26th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
why didn’t she remeber anything about it and why were they happy about it?
August 26th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
#13 “Why the hell would anyone willingly torture and kill the Jews in the name of the National Socialist Party of Germany?”
I was just following orders!
August 27th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I was hoping for a supernatural twist but this one is okay too. But as soon as I read the part about overpopulation I figured out the ending quickly afterwards.
August 27th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
@ DJ LoONa and lostmyselfalongtheway
:O maybe it was an alien! That would explain why he was taller than most pple, and could hypnotise the family. Srsly, when the hell would the government think of something as smart as that???? Wow, i sound like a hypocrite >->’ but still…
August 27th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I personally like the beginning paragraphs it adds more realism to the piece.
@DJ LoONa
We have the right to LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In our lifetime that would never occur at least in our country…
I wouldn’t know anything about china except they have a one child policy and already they’re seeing problems. Boys are more desired children so girls are either aborted or given up to adoption. Men are finding it hard to find a partner therefore get married therefore even less children. :[ I can see communist as maybe executing undesirables but china is becoming more and more capitalist. Executing people would be bad for morale and you’d be exterminating workers :[
But wtf do I know I’m an 18 year old living in america :[
August 27th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
when does n e country ever care about rights or what not after something goes terribly wrong? nazi germany as just 1 example.
if everyone has a right to life why is there war?
yes china is becoming more capitalist i agree with you there…but the fact that your a capitalist country doesn’t mean you wouldn’t do sumthing so immoral.
come on don’t be naive
but wtf do i know i’m a 19 year old living in jamaica =[
August 27th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
oh btw at Kait’s Corpse…perhaps
=]
August 27th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
There is alway expansion to the Moon and Mars, besides we know the first get the Button Day would be the Chinese and Indians.
August 27th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Excellante!
August 28th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
This is a great story. For one, there’s a backstory that isn’t really a back story and it’s awesome.
Other thing I noticed is that her family seems zombie like with their willingness to kill themselves. It’s as if Laura had woken up not remembering Button Day because she finally got her will back.
August 28th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Ben stole pretty much all of my thunder.
This was basically a ripoff of Soylent Green, except they don’t get anything useful out of the people who off themselves. Not even entertainment. Any government capable of that level of brainwashing would be capable of getting much more use out of the citizens. And any society advanced enough to remotely microwave a man’s brain would be able to kill somebody much more cleanly and efficiently. The bloody deaths added absolutely nothing to the story. And the idea of Laura spontaneously forgetting what ‘button day’ is was pretty weak.
I know a lot of people are loving this story, but i see a story that could have been so much more.
August 29th, 2008 at 7:08 am
Oh wow that was pretty good! Not like other story here, which have some kind of monster..
But why did Laura not remember anything about button day?
August 29th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
@ Abbey
I think it’s because she was no longer brainwashed. She woke up with her freewill back or something. That’s what I think. That’s why in the end she got to choose.
August 30th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Long, but worth the read.
This is the stuff of nightmares. Literally.
August 30th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Creepiest story ever!!!
August 31st, 2008 at 1:33 pm
That was lame… First off, why doesnt she know about button day? The story makes it clear that she knew about it the day before, so how did she forget overnight? And if everybody is so fucking proud to take part, why wont they explain to her what it is? And why would anybody WANT to take part in it. Why do they bleed out their faces when they die? It would make so much more sense if it had of been lethal injection day.
August 31st, 2008 at 6:39 pm
I’m not a puritan or anything, but if the Government is really concerned about Overpopulation, ahouldn’t they be cracking down on Michael and his new teenaged girlfriend having sex? (well, I assume they had sex, why else would she already be at his house ’scantily clad’, first thing in the morning?)
August 31st, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Wow I hate to be Mr. Negative but I thought this was… not so stellar as everyone else seems to think
1. This can’t really even be considered a creepypasta. Can you imagine trying to post this in a thread? This is like a very short short story.
2. It’s very predictable. A family is going to some government facility that controls overcrowding n a horror story. Honestly half way through the story I was thinking “well they better die in an interesting way”, and of course they didn’t. Their blood vessels just burst or something.
3. I have no idea how you people think this is well written. Some of the lines use very poor grammar, and all of the metaphors are poorly chosen and very disrupting to the flow.
“It was as if she were a puppet, walking on strings made from fear’s own web” when I read this I thought of Zapp Branagan’s uncanny way of using metaphors to make himself seem like an idiot.
So really it wasn’t the worst thing I’ve read, but if it is going to completely break away from the copypasta form of being as short as possible, then at least don’t give away the ending right off then weigh the thing down with poorly written detail.
September 1st, 2008 at 4:06 pm
This was a great pasta.
I have two ideas why Laura forgot about Button Day:
a)She didn’t want to die, and was freaked out, and that caused her mind to block out the knowledge, maybe so she’d not go along with it. To live.
OR b) Twilight Zone scenerio?
Either way, great story.
ALSO, freaky way of dieing+unconditional want to do it= freaked shinless.
September 1st, 2008 at 10:41 pm
It slightly sounds somewhat to the aztecs. The People happily and willingly Sacrificed Themselves to the sun god. Very well Written story. Will Never Forget it.
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:57 am
PUSH ME PUSH ME PUSH ME
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:40 pm
MR.WELLDONE:
FUCK YOU.
FUCK YOU UP THE ASS.
I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT YOU ARE A RICH BOY WHO THINKS HIS PARENTS ARE THE ANTICHRIST AND THINKS HE IS TOO GOOD FOR EVERYONE IN HIS SCHOOL.
YOU EMBARRASS PEOPLE LIKE ME WHO HAVE LOST EVERYTHING. MY FATHER AND OLDER BROTHER DIED IN A CAR CRASH THAT CRIPPLED ME FOR YEARS.
DO NOT TAKE LIFE LIGHTLY.
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:25 pm
omg I WAS PHONE i am like so srry my friend almost died in a car crash and if she died it would b alot on me but if my sister and dad died i would proble go crazy i am so so so srry
September 4th, 2008 at 4:31 am
This was a very good creepy pasta.
Really very good.
Bit mind boggling.
Part of me is asking how she didn’t know about it, did her mind block out the idea, or did she somehow wake up in a parallel universe?
I
September 5th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Apparently my first comment was deleted…
Whatever.
For all of you who say “why would they be happy?”, please look at history and consider it is not outside the scope of human capacity to be happy to be sacrificed. The Mayans for instance would play great games of… well the game was similar to soccer, and the winners would be sacrificed, and it was considered to be an honor to serve in this capacity.
September 6th, 2008 at 11:35 am
i was rather fond of this creepy pasta,although i would’ve like a conclusion.i felt it ended rather abruptly.Over all,it was well written but lacked a certain something.
September 6th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
OMG NO WAY!!! THAT LAURA GIRL HAS MY NAME!!!!!! *screams* EEEVVIILLLL
September 6th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
it was fucking shit, i prefer traditional pasta, just short, shitty, and scary, if i wanted an elaborate story, i got edgar allan poe and stephen king.
September 6th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I loved this it was really well written and don’t listen to Lally he or she has a finger up their a*s.
September 10th, 2008 at 3:35 am
This was awesomely disturbing.
And I wish Mr Welldone would stop with his bullshit.
September 12th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
-hugs I WAS PHONE-
i’m sorry love
September 14th, 2008 at 2:04 am
This was an awesome story, I just wish the ending was different.
September 16th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
I thought this was pretty good. The deaths were a little too much in this scenario. It would have been a lot better if it had just been an injection or something.
But, one thing I actually really appreciated was the end. I know some people were mad about how it was just a cliffhanger– but it makes sense. It seems like it tries to put yourself in Laura’s shoes, like “What would you do?” It made me think.
Good story. That was just my opinion on it. :]
September 18th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
this was amazing.
i would love to read more of this authors work.
September 21st, 2008 at 4:59 pm
part of me liked it, part of me was kinda scared, but the other part was somewhat realistic and said “yes the government is full of snide, creepy assholes but they wouldnt dipose of people in this way as it is deemed as inhumain”
so there lol
but i did like it
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Wow… Somehow I knew they were gonna die at the end
AWESOME story. Very, very AWESOME.
September 24th, 2008 at 4:23 am
Maybe it was some suppressed memory or something. Like how some victims of traumatic incidents don’t remember what happen because they suppress their own memory. I like how it’s vague, leaves one to explore the story.
It sounds weird how the government would choose such a digusting and troublesome way to get rid of people though. Wouldn’t it have been easier to get a bunch of people together and burn them or something? No mess to clean up.
September 24th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
You had me at government and overcrowding
September 26th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Who the hell would be happy about killing themselves? lol i like it it makes it even creepier
wow it would be so scary if somthing like that did happen…..anyway it was really good 
September 30th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
@39
hey,what a co-inky-dink. i jsut happe nto have Several shotguns and shells in m ybasement for jsut such a ocassion. ima bust one up this guys balls
September 30th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
my favorite part of this–when it said her dad plopped “fatly” on the ground.
lmaooooo.
but i did kinda like this. although the boyfriend-foreshadowing was probably what i found most interesting. getting a new girlfriend… saying she should dye her hair (i’ve interpreted that as him saying she could change her appearance and run away…)
September 30th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
also, just noticed–last name suddenly changes from krandall to krendall.
just sayin’.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
I would of said:
“Yeah goverment man, show me how it is done, I wanna see you do it.”
October 11th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
When he asked me if I would answer the call I’d be like “Uh… No.. Sorry. Tell them I can’t come to the phone right now…”
Very good story, except I could have lived without the boyfriend part, it was kind of unessicary.
October 11th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Oh sorry… Not “When” but “if”
October 14th, 2008 at 2:39 am
this felt like something off ray bradbury’s scrap pile.
not bad.
not good.
entertaining. but too detailed.
October 15th, 2008 at 2:58 am
@21 ~Dj Loona
my best guess is that the reason her boyfriend already know there was a button day, he just seek for another Girlfriend, cuz, the one she got, will actually die.
It’s like “uhm, mi Gf would die tomorrow… i really need a new one”
October 18th, 2008 at 1:21 am
Cute….but not enough ripping
October 18th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
This would have made such a good bel-air, it’s ridiculous.
October 20th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
anyone else think the government guys were aliens in reference to the abnormally tall suit
October 22nd, 2008 at 5:45 pm
all i want to know is why she didn’t know about it. It was like i was waiting for a revelation to happen. Why couldn’t she remember?
October 24th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
0.o I WAS NOT EXPECTING THAT AT ALL… i thought i dno… some ghost would do whatever i dont even know what i thought but just woooow
October 25th, 2008 at 12:28 am
well, im surprises i didnt find this in the comments, but WHO WAS AUTHOR?
October 25th, 2008 at 12:52 am
That was well-written. it would make a good short film.
October 25th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
It was interesting, but I saw the ending coming (not so grotesquely in my mind’s eye, however). But it kind of reminded me of that story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. A lot.
October 27th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Government could have just shot them. A facility where you go to kill yourself in an excessively high tech manner just screams inefficiency.
October 28th, 2008 at 11:51 am
@3
the writer you’re thinking of is shirley jackson, not daphne dumaurier. jackson wrote the lottery, which is clearly the story this pasta is based on.
still a fun read.
November 1st, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-
November 1st, 2008 at 1:48 pm
WHO WAS BUTTON?
October 28th, 2008 at 1
November 7th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Oh shiz. o_O
This disturbs me to no end and I sincerely hope that it never has to happen in real life.
As a pasta, though, I thoroughly enjoyed this. I love the fact that it could actually happen, minus the instant Ebola produced by pressing a little red button. There are far too many stories on this site about demons and monsters and things that go bump in the night for my taste.
@101
Ily. 8D
November 7th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
One more thing.
How could any human being stay sane after watching a bunch of people kill themselves in such a bloody way? Do the g-men watch people’s Button Days in shifts, or something?
November 8th, 2008 at 10:22 am
I am button
i will fry your brains mwahahahahaha
November 8th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Aaaand I have yet more to say. I’m sorry, I know I have to learn to say everything I want to say in one comment.
Anyway. This has made me fear death even more and I hope I die painlessly of age in my sleep.
Like my great-aunt Agnes.
;-;
November 20th, 2008 at 12:50 am
Damn. That was awesome. I can’t say anything more than that. Maybe it’s just me, but I felt a very V for Vendetta (the comic, not the movie) feel to this story, partly because of the obvious British tones.
Phenomenal. I think it’d make a better short film rather than a movie. I second the notion of a film, with credit being given to an anonymous source.
Also, Mr. Welldone, you’re a fantastic enigma, a real villain arousal here, but here’s a friendly tip, flaming aside. Stop sounding like a 14 year old emo kid.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
tl;dr haha jk it was great, but i would have killed the bastards. leave it to the government to casue people to explode
November 20th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
forgot to add this, just cause all these people an heroed doesnt mean overpopulation would be cured. u would need a large amount of falcon punches, shoop da whoops and Candlejack just to clear some out, oh shi