Will closes his bedroom door and answers the cellphone.
“We need an answer right now, we have given you a whole day to decide” says the corporate hierarchy on the other end.
Hearing footsteps creak in the hallway, Will responds quietly.
He whispers, “Yes I am aware of that, but I am still thinking things over.”
Will’s bedroom door swoops open.

“Will who could you possibly be talking to at 11 o’clock at night, mom and I are trying to sleep.”
Looking at his dad innocently, “No one dad, I’m almost done.”

“Hello, Mr. McCollum are you still on the phone?”

“Yes I’m still here, hold on for one second.”
Eyebrows raising with suspicion, “I asked you once and I expect an answer, who are you talking to?”
Responding defensively will says, “No one, I’m almost done.”

“Hmm, no one. How about you hang up the phone? Since you’re talking to no-one.”

“I can’t it’s important.”

“You’re not talking to the guys from Perfect Patent are you?”

“Yeah.”

“Why are they calling you so late at night?”

“They want to know what I decided.”
“Just tell them to call you tomorrow. It’s late, you need some sleep.”
“I can’t they want an answer right now!”
The phone began to demand for a response, “Hello, hello?”
“Sorry I’m back, so what were you saying?”
“Mr. McCollum you have 30 seconds to decide. If you still fail to give us an answer, we will hang up and our offer will be terminated.”
“Are you serious! Please give me a little more time!”
“25 seconds left,” projects out of the cellphone.
“Dad, they want me to make a decision in 25 seconds or they’ll terminate their offer!”
Nonchalantly Lou responds with, “Will relax.”
Lou sits down next to Will on his bed, pats him on the back and says, “All you have to do is, make a choice. No matter what, I will still support you.”
“15 seconds Mr. McCollum.”
Palms sweating, heart pounding, Will quickly reviews the possible outcomes from his choice.
“7…6…5…4…”
Will urgently cries, “Okay! Okay! I have made my decision.”


“Okay class, before you leave I will pass back your final exams. I gave you a very generous curve because there was a large amount of poor grades.”
While the professor began to pass out the exams, Will finished up his designs for his new invention.
“Some students, one student in particular, didn’t need my generous curve…”
Slowly Professor Harrington made his way towards Will, looking down at the paper to reassure himself of the last name.

“Will McCollum is this special student, congrats Will.”

“Thanks,” Will said modestly closing his design journal.

“Will can I have a word with you after class?” says Professor Harrington.

Questionably Will responds, “Sure?”
Once the lecture hall emptied it seemed like an ancient Greek auditorium; only consisting of Will and Professor Harrington. Will walks to the Professor, standing on what seemed like a stage.

“So what did you want to talk to me about?” says Will.

“Will it seems like you know a lot about Electrical Engineering. So I was wondering if you wanted to help me with my research and inventions.”

Will excitedly says, “That sounds great, I’d love to!”

With a grin Professor Harrington says, “Wonderful! Meet me here tomorrow morning at 8 o’clock.”

Will drives home and tells his parents about the wonderful opportunity while they eat dinner.

“Isn’t that awesome!” says Will.

“Of course! I am so proud of you! Isn’t that great Lou?” Will’s mom says.

Sadly Lou says, “That is great. I am proud of you son.”

“What’s wrong dad?” Will says.

“My patent business isn’t doing very well. All we need is one great invention to patent, and our business will thrive for a while. That way we can continue to pay the bills and for your college tuition.”

“Well, I could show you one invention I have been working on for a while and finally finished up today,” says Will.

After dinner Will shows Lou the design he created for a new self-charging phone.

“So basically sound waves contain energy, this energy can be converted into electrical energy by the converter I created. Once the sound energy is converted into electrical energy, the phone can be charged. Every time someone talks on the phone, his or her phone charges. Cellphone companies could put this converter in their cellphones and we would get paid for every phone they put my converter in.” says Will.

“Will, this is revolutionary! This is perfect for my patent company too!” exclaims Lou.

“I think I might bring this invention to your patent company, but I’m not sure yet” says Will.

“Okay well just let me know what you think over the next day or two.”
Reassuringly Will says, “Sounds good. I’m going to bed goodnight.”
The next day Will went to Professor Harrington’s room and took data in his journal.
After Will finished taking data, Professor Harrington wanted to look at it. Before Professor Harrington got to the page with the data, he found Will’s designs for his new invention. Will then explained how the converter worked.

“That’s incredible Will. Here, I know the CEO and other representatives that own a huge patent company called Perfect Patent. They would pay you a lot of money to let their company create a patent for your invention. Lets call them right now?” Offered Professor Harrington.

“Wow why not? Lets see what they have to offer” said Will.
After Professor Harrington talked to the hierarchy from Perfect Patent, they wanted to talk to Will.

“Hello?” Will said.

“Hello Will, this is the CEO from Perfect Patent, your invention is not only revolutionary but very profitable, we will offer you 35,000,000 dollars to allow us to patent your invention.”

“7,500,000 dollars?!” Will said thunderstruck.

“Yes 7,500,000 dollars in a lump sum. You have the rest of the day to figure out if you are willing to accept our offer or not. We will call you tonight at 11 o’clock.”

“You’re only giving me today to think about it? Seriously?” asked Will.

“Yes, one day. We look forward to your decision. Goodbye.”
The phone call ended. Will, still in shock, decided to continue helping Professor Harrington with his research. Afterwards Will rushed home to have dinner.

“Guess what dad.” Will said.

“What?” said Lou curiously.

“Perfect Patent offered me 7,500,00 dollars to let them patent my invention.”

“Will that’s amazing!” screamed Will’s mom.
Lou began to rub his head like he’s suffering from a migraine.

“Yes that is amazing but what about our conversation last night?” Lou said.

“I am still considering that dad but still it’s 7,500,000 dollars! How can I pass that up?”

“For all that I’ve done for you as a father, I can’t believe it.” Lou yelled.
Lou got up from the table, walked to his bedroom, and closed the door.

“Dad come back! I could start a family with this money! This money could last me for a lifetime!” Will begged.

Will got up from the table, knocked on the door multiple times. No answer. Will decided to go to his bedroom and contemplate his decision. Three hours later, Will still sits on his bed thinking.

Looking at the clock in his room he realizes it’s 10:59 p.m. and becomes overwhelmed. Spacing out, Will thinks about his life in the future; playing out both scenarios.

“BZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZZZZZ” Will comes back to reality and realized his phone is ringing.

Will jolts up like he was struck by a lightning, closes his door, and answers the cellphone.
“We need an answer right now, we have given you a whole day to decide” says the CEO of Perfect Patent on the other end.
Hearing footsteps creak in the hallway, Will responds quietly.
He whispers, “Yes I am aware of that, but I am still thinking things over.”
Will’s bedroom door swoops open.

“Will who could you possibly be talking to at 11 o’clock at night, mom and I are trying to sleep.”
Looking at his dad innocently, “No one dad, I’m almost done.”

“Hello, Mr. McCollum are you still on the phone?”

“Yes I’m still here, hold on for one second.”
Eyebrows raising with suspicion, “I asked you once and I expect an answer, who are you talking to?”
Responding defensively will says, “No one, I’m almost done.”

“Hmm, no one. How about you hang up the phone? Since you’re talking to no-one.”

“I can’t it’s important.”

“You’re not talking to the guys from Perfect Patent are you?”

“Yeah.”

“Why are they calling you so late at night?”

“They want to know what I decided.”
“Just tell them to call you tomorrow. It’s late, you need some sleep.”
“I can’t they want an answer right now!”
The phone began to demand for a response, “Hello, hello?”
“Sorry I’m back, so what were you saying?”
“Mr. McCollum you have 30 seconds to decide. If you still fail to give us an answer, we will hang up and our offer will be terminated.”
“Are you serious! Please give me a little more time!”
“25 seconds left,” projects out of the cellphone.
“Dad, they want me to make a decision in 25 seconds or they’ll terminate their offer!”
Nonchalantly Lou responds with, “Will relax.”
Lou sits down next to Will on his bed, pats him on the back and says, “All you have to do is, make a choice. No matter what, I will still support you.”
“15 seconds Mr. McCollum.”
Palms sweating, heart pounding, Will quickly reviews the possible outcomes from his choice.
“7…6…5…4…”
Will urgently cries, “Okay! Okay! I have made my decision.”
“I will not sell out to your company. Instead I will let my dad’s company patent my invention. Have a nice night” says Will.