Author: Ananya Bhatt

I heard the bell. It was time for science class. I took a computer chip out of my brain and put in my science class one. By the time I got to class, the information was downloaded. I was ready for my test.

My name is Ava Johnson. I am 14 years old, and because of my accident, I have aced every single test for almost the past year. When I was 13 years old, I got into an accident and almost died. My parents were given two choices- to save me by putting a robot/computer brain into me or let me die. They picked putting a computer in as my brain.

Later that day, we played basketball. Kate, the girl in front of me, was running about 6 miles per hour and dribbling the basketball every 0.62 seconds. But, she was getting close, and not slowing down. If I moved over, stole the ball at the exact time, and ran, I could score easily! When Kate came, I stole the ball and ran. As I was running, I calculated exactly when to jump and at what speed so that I could get high enough to dunk the ball. And I did it! “Let’s go! I made it!” I said. When I looked back though, I saw Kate on the ground. I thought, “Well, obviously if you were running at that speed and didn’t slow down, then tried to pivot, you were going to roll your ankle. Didn’t everybody know that?”
Kate looked like she was crying, but I had no idea how she felt because I didn’t remember crying. Her mom and friends came down from the bleachers and hugged her.

As I walked out, I saw another girl crying. I walked up to her. She sniffled, “My cousin died of cancer!” “Well, at least 10 to 16 million people die from cancer a year so the chances of your cousin living were pretty slim,” I said. But, this just made the girl cry even more. I really wondered what I had done wrong.

That night, I went to sleep. I saw a younger version of myself who looked about 9 to 10 years old. I had gone out with my mom to get ice cream. As we walked back to the car, I dropped my ice cream. I started crying, but it wasn’t just because of the ice cream. My mom and I would spend time together by going out for ice cream. However, we couldn’t afford it all the time, so when we got it, it was a treat. As I was crying, my mom came over and gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. Her hug made me feel warm inside. As she let go of me, I was already feeling better.

When I woke up, I knew right away that eating ice cream was not good for you and could cause colds. I also knew that hugs and kisses were one of the best ways to spread germs. I knew it was a dream, but unlike most dreams, it didn’t go away. It stayed. It felt so real. It was like this had actually happened to me. But, the thing was, I had seemed so much happier and full of life. Back then, I had felt happier. I had been able to feel. After the accident, everyone told me I was very lucky to be alive. In a lot of ways, I could do a lot more than I could before, but, is this life truly better than before?