PHOTO PROMPT © Jean L. Hays
When Josey was a little girl, she would spend rainy afternoons playing with her mother’s pot of spare buttons – pearlised cuff buttons, chunky wooden coat buttons, shimmery greens and blues from old skirts and blouses. Josey let them run through her fingers like sea-smoothed shells, listening to their their soft chink and slither, pebbles caught in a swell.
Now Josey carries a pair of nail scissors in her coat pocket. She snips the threads and cords while people aren’t looking, adds their buttons to her stolen treasures.
But the collection isn’t Mother’s. They don’t feel the same.
***
Written for Rochelle Wisoff-Field’s Friday Fictioneers. To join in and write your own tale, see here.
And many congratulations Rochelle on seven years at the helm – a more gracious, talented, generous and encouraging leader, we could not wish for.
Word Shamble 
Love the idea of her snipping off peoples’ buttons when they’re not looking. Delightful. Though my button box was mostly filled from jumble sale finds (back in the day)
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Thank you very Crispina. Love a button collection. They all tell a tale. Thanks for reading. You still got your button jar or has it gone by the wayside?
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Oh, I’ve moved so many times. And I stopped all forms of handcraft when I developed a problem with my right hand. Though I did eventually have an op which has put it right and returned my grip, by then I’d moved on with my life.
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Sounds as if Josey’s slipped a cog or two. One of these days she’ll be caught, and the law is going to have trouble deciding what to charge her with 🙂
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Very true! Thanks for reading 🙂
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I wonder if this is an illness or jus a fad of kleptomania – However it was funny.
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Thanks James. Not sure but she’s lost something important that won’t be replaced by buttons. Thanks for reading
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Dear Lynn,
My mother had such a button jar when I was little. Like Josey I loved to play with them. However, I haven’t gone to stealing the buttons of others. The last line is a sweet mixture of poignancy and humor. Well done as always.
Shalom,
Rochelle
PS Thank you for your kind words re my 7 years.
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Thank you, Rochelle. And my pleasure re your tenure. May you have as many more years in the role as makes you happy!
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Poignant and with a touch of humour. Really warmed to the character you created. Nicely done as usual Lynn.
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Thank you so much Iain. I may write more on her yet, I think. Thanks for reading
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You have woven yet another wonderful tale, Lynn. There is something about a button jar, isn’t there?
As for her, how sad that she is trying to refind her mother in strangers’ buttons.
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Thank you, Dale. Yes, very sad. She’s lost something special but I don’t think she’ll recapture it in those buttons. Thank you so much for reading
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Ah HA! Now I know where my button went! LOL! Great story.
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Thanks Jelli. Glad you liked it
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What a great idea for a thief! Brilliant stuff, Lynn!
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Thanks so much Matthew. Glad you liked it 🙂
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I loved buttons too, until, to my peril I discovered M&Ms!😊.
Something about the smooth feel, the clickity -clack sound and the many colors: you have captured the allure perfectly.
And for my generation at least, sewing is a thing of nostalgia, something our mothers did, and we escaped. But now, with both mothers and sewing machines long gone, we look back upon both with nostalgia.
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That’s exactly it, Andrea. It’s a nostalgic thing, a thing lost that Josey wants to recapture. That feeling of security you get with a happy childhood, perhaps? Thanks for reading
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What a wonderful character, Lynn. Loved it
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A beautiful story and a rich character. Your story reminded me of the hours I spent playing with my granny’s buttons.
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Ah, so many of us have a similar memory. Sad that buttons are being replaced by elasticated material and stretchy waistbands! Thanks so much for reading
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There are worse fetishes. Excellent storytelling.
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There are indeed! Thank you so much for reading.
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You are very welcome.
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🙂
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She’s a button terrorist, I absolutely love this idea, it really appeals there’s a great further story here I think.
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Thank you! Yes, I wonder if there is a longer tale here. I’ll think on it. Thanks for reading
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The joy that there was to be had from playing with grandma’ button jar. I have one myself, but I scarcely ever go to it. That’s consumer fashion for you. Good one Lynn.
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Thanks Sandra. My mum had a button jar. I think it had been a sort of canister for John Player cigarettes – very 1970s! I loved the feel of those buttons running through my fingers. As you say, fewer buttons needed now with elasticated tops and waistbands. Thanks so much for reading
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I so much enjoyed my grandmother’s button jar… I wonder where it ended up… maybe we will find it when we clean out my mother’s house…. the thought of taking buttons from people is such an interesting thought (and a little bit chilling… as it could escalate)
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Yes, I liked the idea of her taking the buttons, snipping away bits of people’s clothing – it’s odd, as you say. Ultimately pointless too, she can’t recapture what’s been lost. Thanks for reading Bjorn
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Oh Lynn, I love this story! You have given Josey’s character such depth. As Dale says, the buttons symbolise the mother that she’s lost, but they also represent her lost childhood. And that speaks volumes about the relationship between mother and daughter. So many layers and so delicately done!
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Aw, thank you so much Penny. I’m glad it came across as layered to you. I just enjoyed the thought of her collecting buttons from others in the forlorn hope she could recapture something forever lost. Perhaps this is behaviour we all take part in in some way. Thanks so much for reading and for the kind comment
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This is a bit scary and sad but also amusing (in a scary sad way).
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Thanks Dawn. I like that combination of sad and scary – glad it left that impression on you 🙂
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