The Red Button

He stepped inside, closing the front door behind him. She could see he had another one of his stupid grins on his face.

“Where’s the stuff I sent you to the grocery store for?” she asked.

He toed the floor and said, “I didn’t get it.”

“Why?”

“I ran into this old woman who sold me this magic device,” he said, holding up a plastic red button mounted inside a silver-gray ring with white-raised lettering that read “easy.”

“You gotta be shitting me,” she said, “That’s a toy that you can buy at one of the office supply stores for less than ten-bucks.”

“I know,” she said. “But she claimed it was magic. Jus’ make a wish and push the button. I haven’t use it yet. I wanted you to be the first.”

He set it on the counter in front of her. She picked it up, turning it over in her hands.

“And if it doesn’t work? What then?” she asked.

“I go find the old woman and get our money back,” he answered.

“Yeah, right,” she said.

“Jus’ give it a try,” he prodded her, “Make a wish and push the button.”

She looked down at the piece of red plastic and pushed down on it. A deep masculine voice spoke from the thing, “That was easy.”

She looked up where her husband had been standing. A wisp of curling white smoke hung in the air where he’d been a second before.

“Yes,” she smiled, “That was easy.”