by Brenden, 11th (fiction)
Jonathon sat in his car, silent, with the radio singing to him. As he started humming the words to the song playing, he contemplated in his head the decision he was about to make. Whether it was worth it or not, how it could affect his life. He knew the money he was going to get from the experiment was money he could not pass up. He stopped humming, and turned off the radio. He opened the door, still inside of his own mind conversing with himself. Many voices rang in his head as he continued to ponder what the consequences of his actions would be, positive and negative. 
He stared blankly at the facility as he shut the door of his car, and he slowly walked towards the facility. As he got close to the front doors of the facility, he looked up to the cloudy skies, and took a deep breath, then said to himself, 
“Jeez.”
The stress was coming in fast. He attempted to relieve it by massaging his forehead before opening the door.His actions felt weak and unsure. The first thing that he saw was an empty waiting room next to a set of elevators. The room was completely empty except for a receptionist, who he went to immediately. At this point, he just wanted another person’s company. The receptionist noticed him as he walked in, and said as he walked towards her,
“Why you must be Jonathon Lavant.”
“Yeah, that’s me.” Jonathon replied.
“You seem very nervous.” The receptionist said, noticing the tension in his face and body.
“Yeah, I...I’m very nervous about this.” he said quickly, “I don’t want to this really, but I have to.”
“It will change your life, certainly.” she said,
“I’ll call the doctors down to come get you as soon as possible, go ahead and grab a seat honey.”
With that, he walked over to the empty seats and sat down. He looked at his bank account, and sighed deeply. Anxiety weighed in on his brain as he continued to think over what he was about to do. 
“Hello Jonathon!” a voice from the elevators exclaimed’
He turned around to see a woman, in a business suit and dark shades surrounded by 5 doctors calling out to him.
“Come over here, we gotta talk to you!”
Jonathon, still overrun with paranoia and wonder, got up and walked towards the group. The woman grabbed his shoulder and said to him, 
“Why we are so glad to have you aboard this project, you’re the bravest out of the other twenty-one people who said they would come.”
He stood in confusion, not knowing about any other participants other than him. She continued, saying, 
“You’ll get all of their money as well as the money you were promised!”
His excitement was stuck under all of the other thoughts he had built up. They went upstairs, and went into a surgery room, where 3 other doctors were waiting. Jonathon had been silent for a while, not knowing what to say or think. The woman noticed this, and told the doctors to excuse them
“You’re about to be rich.” The woman said to Jonathon, who was blankly staring at the ground.
“I know.” He replied weakly.
“If you wish to back out, this is the moment.” She said in a disappointed tone.
 In that moment, he thought about his soon-to-be wife, and their newborn, the rent they are going to have to pay, the debt they are going to have to release themselves of, and how much easier life will be with the money. Now he was convinced he had to do it.
“No, let’s do it.” He replied.
…
The surgery took place. Regret had not yet fully left his mind, but he knew it was already too late to turn back. When he walked out of the facility, the first thing he did was yell, to see if there was even a sliver of a voice left, to no avail. Pure silence, except for the rain hitting the ground. Jonathon then checked his phone, to see if the research group had fulfilled his promise. Millions of dollars had entered his bank account. His excitement ran through his body for a second, thinking about everything going to be paid off, the wedding, the honeymoon, the child, it all ran through his mind. He exclaimed with excitement, however, nothing. Nothing but the rain. The drive back was silent and dreadful. He thought deeply about the consequences, how could he propose to his girlfriend in silence, who was going to be the male voice in his child’s life? Tears run down his cheeks as he realized what he had lost. Sadness rained on him, as he attempted to hum the song in the radio, only to hear nothing but the wheels crunching against the floor, the engine whirling, and the radio singing for him.