All my life I have been a loner. Neglected. Mocked. "Oh there goes the kid who reads funny," a group of students said mockingly, "What a loser!" 

But I never thought of myself like this. I never wanted to be like this! I wanted to prove to the world, that I could be just as smart as everyone else, if not more. That last strand of self-esteem was soon to run out too. Gone were my days of "You got this Will, they don't know what they're talking about!". Gone were the days of my curious mind trying to learn new things.

On the last day of school, just as I came back home, my mom came up to me in a sense of despair, holding a pearl white envelope. Her eyelids trembled as her bright blue eyes shimmered, finally letting a tear escape, tracing a glistening path down her cheek. Looking at my mom's face, I knew exactly what had happened. "I'm so sorry Will," my mom said teary-eyed. "I love you, Will. I always will." "I love you too Mom," I croaked, and in that moment where the only thing that made sense was how much I loved my mom, it felt like my whole life had collapsed.

My name is Will Thompson and I'm a 13-year-old kid who was diagnosed with dyslexia last year - the pearly white envelope had it all. My life has always been challenging as I have struggled to read and comprehend words coherently. Though I love to read books and imagine amazing new story ideas, it takes me weeks and months to finish reading a book and that too with my mom's help. She always has to read to me since I can't read or write by myself! I haven't seen my dad since I was 2, and my mom works multiple jobs just to make ends meet. Because of this, my passion for reading many books and thirst for knowledge remained a dream.

In school, my story was no different. I was always the slowest at everything and had to be moved to special education groups. The dancing letters and jumbled-up numbers completely confused me and made me feel like I could never be smart enough. Nobody wanted to be friends with a dyslexic kid. Nobody my age wanted to help me or sympathize with me. I was just a sad, lonely, and depressed kid who was left behind.

And then one day, my whole life turned around. In school, suddenly on the loudspeaker I heard, "Will Thompson, can you please come to the principal's office". My heart skipped a beat. What could I possibly be going to the principal's office for? Did I do anything bad? "Hey Will!" the principal ecstatically said, "Don't worry, you're not in trouble." Oh thank god, I said to myself. "I asked you here because we have an amazing new earpiece called the Ode Pod and it can read out any text you can't understand. It can also help you answer questions that you may have and help you with all of your homework and school content. Oh, and don't worry the school is going to provide it to you for free." "Woah..," I said in shock, and complete disbelief. "Thank you so much," I replied and hoped this would be the reading companion that I really needed.  

      

As soon as I put the earpiece on, I felt like my mind was transported into another world. The whole world faded away as I heard a soft angelic hum starting up. "Hello, Will Thompson. Welcome to your way of learning. I'm Ode, your assistant for everything.." the device said. "Woah..," I responded. It felt like a whole world of knowledge opened up to me, and I began to understand anything that was being given to me.

"Alright, Will, can you please read page 439," my teacher said to our class. "Phew, I got this, " I thought. "Don't worry Will, I'll read out the story for you," the Ode Pod responded, in it's gentle, calming voice. As it started reading, the jumbled letters flew into it's spots like intricate puzzle piece, snapping into place. I closed my eyes, letting the words paint vivid pictures in my mind, transcending the barriers imposed by my condition. With each word, I felt a sense of liberation, as if I were flying through the pages, exploring worlds beyond my imagination. And then, with my finishing words, the class went into a huge applause, for my incredible storytelling. My face gleamed in happiness, and for the first time in my life, I felt a sense of belonging, like I truly fit in and with the Ode Pod, there was nothing, that could stop me. Nothing.

 With my new found confidence with the Ode Pod, my life suddenly became so much better for me. People finally accepted me as their friend, I could truly understand everything we were learning at school, and I went above and beyond, even participating in a few writing competitions and my vivid sense of imagination unlocked a completely new door for me. Everything, that I had ever wanted was suddenly just unlocked, all by this small little device.

One day as I walked through the library, I suddenly heard a faint, commanding voice. "Pst..Get that book over there Will," the voice said. Almost without any self-control or consciousness, I walked over to the adult section and picked up a book on Weapons, and without even checking it out, I felt commanded as I exited through an employee backdoor. And it didn't stop there. Then, as I walked home, another voice seemingly outta nowhere, commanded me, "Steal that bike over there." Without even thinking, I started to do exactly as it said! My brain couldn't control anything, and I was completely out of control. After getting home, I continued to be mindlessly controlled and then, I heard the door creak open.

My mom's jaw dropped in utter shock and disbelief. "Will! What have you done!" my mom yelled in anger. "What do you mean Mom?" I said, as thousands of whispering voices intertwined into my brain, telling me to do horrible things. "What do you mean!? Why is the entire apartment thrashed and some random person's bike in here?" my mom said. "And why is there a book on Weapons lying on the table!" she yelled in fury. "Yeah, what's wrong with that," I said. "Are you ok, Will?" my mom asked in a subtle calm tone, unable to comprehend what was happening to me.

Hearing my mom's calm, soothing voice I felt an instant pang of regret. It was almost like I had periodically been completely controlled. Yet even though my whole body wanted to scream out, I felt unable to. But with every ounce of strength, I could only say in a feeble voice, "Help me."

It didn't take my mom long and she quickly realized, this wasn't her son she was talking to. Within seconds, she yanked the earpiece that was still snugly fit in my ear and I felt like my body came back to life. My body felt real again, and as I regained full control over myself, in that intense moment, all I could say was "Thank you Mom." "Now let's go stop this company from hurting other kids around the world" my mom said.

After reporting this to the police, I and my mom started spreading word about this on social media, and the CEO of the Ode Company was arrested after being found on the run for 2 weeks. It had turned out, that they had been collecting every single thought that we had, and their AI model had gone completely rogue and was controlling people's brains. As we watched the company completely tarnished into ruins, as I reflected on this, I also felt like I had lost everything all over again. But this time, it was different, I had seen what I could become, what my potential really was.

"Will, wake up, honey," my mom said as her voice gently pulled me from my sleep. As I sat up in bed, the morning sunlight filtering through the curtains, and started reflecting on what had happened, I realized that dyslexia didn't define me, it was just a small part of me. Even though this amazing earpiece has unlocked so many opportunities for people like me, it should always be an aid for humanity, and never take over what makes us as humans so beautiful. You don't need to have a futuristic earpiece, you don't need to go to a fancy school, you don't have to be left behind just because you have a learning disability. Everyone has the power to become the best version of themself. All you have to do, is believe.