Reboot : Story 2 of “Realities” series.

“It’s happening again…!” Martha complained as she came out of the elevator to go to her job. She always had a peculiar way of speaking which made other people avoid her. But she doesn’t care anymore. She has concentrated more on her life goals and her career as an insurance adjuster.

But recently she had noticed some strange phenomena that kept her perplexed. She walked towards one of her coworker’s cubicles and leaned forward and said in a lower tone of voice. “It happened again..”.

Jennifer, her coworker, stared back at her with an annoying look on her face. “Huh?” Jennifer murmurs back at her.

“I said it happened again. Just now! The Dejavú ..! You don’t believe me?” Martha insisted still whispering. “ I’m telling you, there is something really weird going on…! The last few times I exited the elevator, the same weird feeling happens , as if I witness the same exact scenario all over again!”

Jennifer looked away, trying to dismiss Martha and looked back at her computer screen nonchalantly. Jennifer has heard this story many times and has actually grown tired of it. “Everybody uses the elevator everyday, Martha, there’s nothing special about seeing similar things when you use the elevator all the time!”

“Not the exact same way I just experienced it. It’s almost as if the same scenario I see and the same thought process I have as I exit the elevator have been repeating itself over and over again !” Their working relationship has been a little rocky. But Martha has been very odd and socially awkward most of her adult life. It has cost her having few meaningful friends in her life.

“Then use the stairs…” Jennifer said with a smirk of her face as she continued to stare at her computer screen.

Realizing she was not getting her coworker’s attention, Martha sighed and turned around and walked towards her desk. She turned on her computer and looked for that website that has interested her. It was a website for individuals who have had experiences that are hard to explain. The same kind of experiences that she has been feeling. Experiences that were related to déjà vous. But she has noticed that they have occurred more frequently.

“My… prodigy… story… “ she uttered as she typed the words on her keyboard. It showed up a mostly dark website with green and black letters, with the same title that she just entered. “Www.myprodigystory.com” was the website she has been visiting lately. Martha felt she could identify with the stories that it entails. She read stories of people from all over the world who have experienced moments of déjà vu and inexplicable phenomena.

The phone rang and she had to interrupt her browsing to attend to her next customer. “Sunshine life insurance , how can I be of your assistance …!” Martha recited the mandatory greeting she was supposed to use every time she answered her work phone.

“Yes, I want to update my policy….” said the voice on the other side of the phone line.

“Sure ! I can help you with that. May I have your policy number please?“

While talking with the customer and looking for ways to assist with the request, Martha could not be completely mindful during her phone conversation. She kept thinking of the website and how interesting her recent odd experiences have been. While listening to her customer wanting to update their life insurance, Martha pondered about the reason why people would still seek for life insurance if nothing guarantees what this life, what this existence is really all about. She would ask herself , “Instead of looking for ways to protect their survivors after they die, why aren’t people more concerned about finding the meaning of their current lives.?” Her job would not keep her away from wondering and searching for the meaning of her life and current peculiar events.

She was wondering even more about her origin and what life was all about. Would these recent Dejavú experiences be a clue to the answer to her never ending questions?

After finishing up the conversation, Martha continued to browse the website. Then she found at the corner a highlighted box that said “Meet local prodigies”. She quickly clicked on the box and saw that there were people living in her area that were also visiting this website. She excitedly clicked on a name and it appeared as James. Martha quickly started chatting with this individual and he responded in a friendly way.

He typed, “Are you also experiencing weird events as if they have been happening repeatedly…?”

Martha almost fell out of her seat and responded , “ Yes! Specially recently! Have you?”

“Yes, as well… !” James typed back immediately.

“What do you think it is?” Martha continued typing as she ignored her phone that was ringing again.

“I’m not sure, but do do you think we can meet somewhere and discuss about this in person? I would love to meet you.”

Martha was first hesitant , but then decided to agree with James’s invitation.

“Are you going to answer the phone?” Jennifer interrupted Martha from across the hallway.

Martha quickly answered the phone while still staring at the screen reading what James was typing next. “Sunshine life insurance , how can I be of your assistance today ?”

Hours later, Martha found herself walking towards a small restaurant. She could not believe that she was about to meet someone with similar experiences as hers. This will be someone who would not make fun of her or ignore her. It would be someone who fully understands and maybe help her find an answer to her questions.

Upon arriving at the small restaurant, Martha saw a guy waving at her from one of the booths. She slowly walked towards him and sat down across from him at the table. He looked tall, thin and friendly. He was wearing thick glasses and had a pen on his shirt pocket. “Are you James?” Martha asked nervously but excited.

“I am James…!” the friendly stranger smiled and nodded. “So have you also been experiencing moments they seem to repeat themselves?“

“Yes I have, and they seem to be happening more and more frequently lately.“ Martha answered with a smile, not sure if the man in front of her knew exactly what she experienced.

“May I ask what exactly has happened to you?” James asked with curiosity.

Martha felt that James was insistent about knowing her experience. She wondered if she would order something to drink first but she was too nervous to ask. “May I know more about you first?” She asked in a timid way.

“ I am just a regular guy who lives by myself in an apartment but has also experienced some repeated scenarios like yourself.“ he said almost like trying to dismiss her question. “Tell me more about your experience and I will share mine.”

Martha paused for a few seconds and decided to share since this was one of her most intriguing moments in her life. “ Well, recently I have been going to work, and when I’m about to exit the elevator to go to my desk, I have this feeling as if I have experienced the same thing again and again.”

“What exactly do you experience?“ James asked with intense curiosity.

“ Well, It’s almost as if I have the same thoughts and then I see the same guy with the same outfit walking to the left when the elevator door opens. This is followed by the ring of a phone from my right and the same exact person answers, when there are about 20 people working on that floor.” Martha shared nervously. “Do you have any idea what this could be..?”

James then pulls up his cell phone, tapped on the screen, and then holds it up to Martha’s face as if showing her something. Martha stared at his cell phone screen trying to figure out what she was supposed to be looking at. Suddenly a bright white light startled Martha. “What was that?” she asked frantically. She looked up at James and was baffled at what she was seeing. James did not look as a real person anymore. He looked like a computerized version of a male figure. His figure was also almost transparent. Everything around her looked surreal. “What is going on? What is happening to you?”

James’s voice came out of his mouth with some static noise , “ You have been subjected to a glitch in the system. We must reboot now to proceed with the program.”

Martha froze for a moment and could not believe what she was hearing and seeing. For a second she thought that she was in a bad dream or that it was a bad joke , “What is this? What is all of this?” She then decided to get up and leave. Martha then ran toward the door and exited the building , just to find herself back inside the building once again. She hysterically turned around and exited again and found herself inside the building a third time. “This can’t be happening!”

James stood up and slowly walked towards Martha. She stood motionless and started to hyperventilate. “Do not be alarmed,” James said in a calm tone of voice as he stood a few feet in front of Martha by the doors. He continued to look like a computerized version of a human figure. This will end quick and you will have no memory of this as soon as the program is rebooted.

Martha covered her ears, closed her eyes and started to scream in horror. All of a sudden she found herself inside her work elevator. The elevator doors in front of her opened and she walked out. She didn’t think anything of it at the moment. It was just like at any other day at work.

Atoms and Molecules: Story 1 of “Realities” series

“I have the controls ready, Jaime…” Daniel, the middle age scientist said to his science partner, “and we should be ready to depart to our once in a lifetime destiny !“ Daniel continued to express with enthusiasm.

“Roger that… !” Jaime responded, with a more monotone tone of voice. Jaime tends to be the serious, technical person working in this daring project.

Both James and Daniel have worked arduously for years to finally engage in a dangerous journey, not into space, or under the sea, but to the microscopic levels of existence that make up this world. They have finally discovered a way to shrink matter into microscopic levels and be able to observe and navigate through living cells in plain sight, without the need of superpower microscope, but with simply their naked eyes. They will be able to better study and expeditiously eliminate various diseases such as cancer cells and viruses.

“We will probably be famous for decades to come…!.” Daniel stated almost giggling. “We are about to break the record in scientific history!”

“I sure hope nothing wrong happens…” Jaime felt more apprehensive about this dangerous journey. Her realist nature has always made her doubt. And now that she was about to accomplish the most record breaking scientific journey of all times, her sense of danger grew even larger.

“Ready for take off..!” Daniel uttered as the vessel that they were in plunged into a big circular chamber with white walls. Other scientists and technicians surrounded the chamber looking through windows all around the curvature of the circular chamber. They resembled doctors from the old days observing an operation. The vessel, measuring about 10 meters long, four meters high, and 5 meters wide, moved towards the center of the big chamber on four wheels, as the double doors closed behind them. The windows around them were located about four meters high which revealed multiple human faces looking in.

Three big machines attached to the walls surrounded the vessel inside the chamber which would fire up electrical waves that will alter their molecular system and make them decrease in size to microscopic levels. As the vessel came to a complete stop, the scientists observing through the windows were able to see a circular platform made of a transparent material slowly rising from underneath the vessel which lifted the vessel about four feet above the ground.

A voice from outside, one of their commanding science officers, spoke into the microphone which was heard inside the vessel as an intercom, “Ready to fire the ‘alternators’!”

Daniel made a big smile while Jamie held tight to her seat while piercing her lips.

“We’re ready , sir!” Daniel responded cheerfully and Jamie just nodded hesitantly in agreement.

They could hear another scientist counting down from 20; “Nineteen, 18, 17….!” Everyone held their breaths as the vessel rested motionlessly in the middle of the chamber. The three machines surrounding the vessel started to light up and resonate electrical sounds. “Ten, 9, 8, 7….!”

A big flash of light suddenly lit up the whole chamber and everyone looking through the windows could see electrical shocks coming from all three machines creating a triangular lighting spectacle. “Three, 2, 1, 0!”

“This is it!” Daniel yelled as the electrical shocks encompassed the whole vessel.

Jamie remained quiet, shutting her eyes and wishing this would just be a dream. But it was far from being a dream. It was about to become the last reality she experienced ever.

The scientists were glued to the windows as they witnessed a 10 m long vessel suddenly disappear before their eyes as the electrical shocks continued.

“They are gone!” one of the observing Scientists shouted in disbelief.

“No!” responded another scientist from across the windows, “ they’re still there… it’s just that they’re too miniature for us to see them with the naked eye!”

“Engage the virtual microscope!” ordered their science officer as they turned their heads and started watching big screens behind them in their labs that were soon to reveal the vessel in its microscopic form. They suddenly were able to see the vessel on the screens but they also noticed that the vessel continued to shrink in size. “ We don’t want to lose them into a deeper microscopic world beyond our reach.!”

“Turn off the alternators!” Ordered their science officer, “ they have already reached the targeted microscopic level…!” The scientist working on the controls on pushed serval buttons to turn off their machines. The electrical shocks suddenly stopped. They all looked intensely into the screens. But there was nothing to see.

“Where are they…?”

Jaime opened her eyes and looked around. Daniel was looking out the small window of their vessel appalled at what he was seeing. “What is it ?” Jamie asked nervously.

“It’s beautiful!” Daniel expressed in awe. “Come and take a look at this!“

Jaime hesitated for a few seconds but then unbuckled herself from the seat and walked towards Daniel. She felt a strange sense of lightheadedness and almost felt as if she was floating in the air. She reached where Daniel was standing and looked outside the small window. All they could see was gigantic objects of different sizes and shapes floating around their vessel. “What are they ? Jamie asked almost in terror.

“ I am assuming that they are particles of the air above the surface surrounding our vessel…” Daniel answered under his breath. “Hmmm.” Daniel uttered under his breath.

“What…?” Jamie asked with a trembling voice.

“They all seem to be moving slowly upward!” Daniel answered.

Jaime quickly moved towards the controls to try to connect with their fellow scientists from outside their vessel. The more she moved around, the more she felt lighter. Her feet were no longer touching the floor of the vessel. “This is Jamie, calling the control center, can anybody hear me?”

Nothing.

“Why are we floating?” Daniel asked in disbelief while looking back at Jamie. “We did not discuss about the possibility of a lack of gravitational force at these microscopic levels!”

“Nobody’s answering from the control center!”. Jaime stated with increased nervousness.

“It might take a while for the connection to work. Just give them a few minutes to respond.” Daniel answered, trying to maintain a positive attitude.

“I got a feeling there’s something seriously wrong about all this.” Jamie expressed in horror.

“Let’s not reach any conclusions yet, Jamie. Keep in mind this is a whole new journey…” Daniel suddenly stopped.

“What …?”

Daniel turned around and floated himself towards the window again as he saw the big objects continuing to move upward while growing in size. The space between the objects became darker until it was all black. He turned his head towards Jaime. “Try to connect with the control center again!” he commanded , almost yelling at Jamie. His voice depicted a sense of desperation.

“Control center, this is Jaime, please respond!,” Jamie spoke to the microphone again with increasing urgency. But there was continuous silence.

Daniel then launch himself towards Jaime, snatched the microphone out of her hand and spoke, “Control center, this is Daniel! Anybody there? Respond, dammit!”

Silence.

He quickly moved to the controls on his left and pushed a button to turn on the visual features. The screen depicted blackness. Then they started seeing objects in the distance continuing to move upward. “We are descending…” Daniel stated with a scary look on his face.

“You mean we are falling through the glass surface under our vessel?” Jamie asked while staring at the screen.

“Yes” Daniel confirmed. “And we are continuing to shrink…!”

“ But that’s impossible…” Jamie uttered almost in tears. “ They should’ve stopped the alternators by now! We should be in a stabled size now!”

“ But we are not! We are continuing to shrink!”

“But how do you know..?”

“Just look at the screen! Look out the window! We are falling down between the particles of the damn floor!” Daniel yelled at Jamie. The controls were not displaying any information on their dashboard to indicate their exact size or what was the condition outside. They could only assume based on what they could see with their own eyes.

Suddenly they saw something familiar on their screen. “What are those?” asked Jamie pointing at the screen.

Daniel moved himself closer to the screen while his feet were still hovering over the floor. “They look like…. stars!”

They both moved themselves towards the window to confirm what the screen was showing. What they saw were multiple white lights all across the dark background. Then they saw another small light moving across the dark space in high speed. “Was that a shooting star?”

Some of the lights were brighter than others. Jaime moved herself back towards the screen and pushed some buttons to see different angles around the vessel. “Oh my goodness…!”

Daniel turned his head to see what Jaime was looking at on the screen. His jaw dropped. “ Are those…. planets?” They could both see many spheres in the dark space among the stars and also what resembled distant galaxies.

“It seems that we somehow moved out into space…” Jaime stated as she continued to stare at the screen. “Could we somehow have been transported out into space instead of being shrunk into microscopic levels…?”

Daniel floated back towards Jaime to look at the screen. “No..!” Daniel uttered in horror . Jamie has never sensed fear in Daniel’s voice as she was now. She looked at him as if looking at a lost child.

“What do you mean “no”? We are seeing stars, meteorites and planets! How do you explain what we are looking at.?” Jamie asked.

Jamie saw Daniel look away as if he was in deep thought. He had a look on his face as if he had just discovered a horrific scene. “ We are shrinking beyond cellular levels… We’re actually entering microscopic molecular levels.” His face seemed pale. “It’s a universe within a universe …”

Jamie did not understand what Daniel was trying to say. But it slowly dawned on her. “What do you mean? Are we entering another microscopic universe within our own?”

He turned his head and looked back at Jaime while his eyes continued to depict terror. “Yes…. And our universe make up yet another macroscopic and bigger universe…. Those are not stars and planets we see out there. Those are atoms and molecules!”

Realities

This is an introduction of several short stories that I plan to write which describe different theories of what “reality” could be composed of.

What is all this we call reality ?

What could explain our existence?

Who are we or what are we?

Are we just part of a bigger entity or are we simply self conscious beings who can question their own existence ?

Here is a short list of possible explanations that I plan to describe in future short stories:

Solar system is an atom among other atoms , infinite number of universes / molecules.

Life is a computerized Matrix, controlled by an unknown super entity.

World is an experiment / lab monitored by advanced intelligent beings.

Life is part of another entitie’s imagination.

World is an organism that will eventually die.

Consciousness is a side effect of a solar phenomena / magnetic force.

Awareness is a dream outside of a more tangible reality.

Thanks for reading. And thanks in advanced for those who will read my future stories and posts.. 🙂

Is this all there is …?

Finding myself in the midst of this routine, I stop and ask myself : what is this all about?

I contemplate about the existence of this world and this finite life.

I think about all the chaos that surrounds us and how much we try to make sense of it all. All the unfairness and unkindness that exist in this world. How much suffering and injustice can we endure?

It scares me sometimes think about the limitations of this existence. It intrigues me to think about how fragile this life really is. How it can end at any moment. How it can surprise us with its inevitable end. And then what ?

I am facing a stage in my life where I ponder about the real meaning of this existence. Where I question the purpose of me being aware in this community, living on a big spherical rock that revolves around a hot star we call Sun.

It baffles me to think about this moment of self reflection and experimentation. I have faith in a supernatural entity I choose to call God. And I pray that someday I will encounter this entity and understand everything there is to know about the reason for this existence.

But in the mean time, what?

Is there an escape to this existential ordeal? Maybe not. Maybe there is no escape. We are doomed and destined to experience this until the end. But, is there really an end or simply a transition?

Donald is ….

Donald is….

Dangerous

Denial , in

Deflector

Divider

Destroyer

Delusional

Disgraceful

Defeated

Down player

Dictator

Dumb

Disconnected from reality

Defiant

Diabolical

Distant

D minus

Despicable

Any other adjectives…?

Awareness …

Being aware is one of the most intriguing mysteries of this existence. Consciousness itself is an indescribable experience. Waking up from sleep is like realizing that we are breathing living beings and that we can also intervene in our experience.

But being aware is also a tool that we can use to help relieve stress. It helps us to change our perspective and remove ourselves from our own self fabricated problems. When we purposefully become more aware of our present moment, we become less victims of our thoughts. We regain control of our lives and become more empowered.

Our thoughts is what keeps us trapped in our personal “hells.” Thoughts can make us feel anxious, depressed, angry , and frustrated. Removing ourselves from being negatively affected by our thoughts and being more in the present moment is the key to dealing with difficulties in life. We tend to self inflict ourselves with discouraging ideas. “What if I can’t find the love of my life?” What if people don’t like me?” “I should have spent more time with my parents.” “The teachers were unfair to me.” “I’ll never find a good paying job.” Although these thoughts may have some truth in them, they don’t necessarily have to be the center of our awareness. They can be temporarily pushed aside so that the present moment can be experienced more and therefore being relieved from our madness. We can compare thoughts to clouds in the sky. We can observe them come and go away. We can choose not to believe any negative thoughts and therefore not be victimized by them.

Thoughts are like clouds in the sky. We can observe them come and eventually go away. We don’t have to be victims of our thoughts.

Looking at the Bigger Picture makes our perception so much different and less stressful. When we focus on the present moment and on other circumstances in our lives, the “problem” or the “issue” that tends to torment us shrinks. It does not disappear or go away completely, but it becomes less overwhelming.

So next time you find yourself having a stressful moment, either because of extreme anxiety, depression, or anger, remember to take a step back, observe your thoughts, and start disputing them. Don’t believe everything your thoughts tell you. Become and observer and just be.

Dear Trump supporter…

I have been wondering, what is the reason why you continue to support the man in the White House, in spite of all the damage that he has done? Why do you insist that he should continue to be our President, in spite of all of his controversial issues?

The White House.

With all due respect, don’t you realize that he has created more division and chaos? I am honestly asking because I truly want to understand your point of view. It seems to me like we live in different realities. As if I was seeing the obvious outrageous and self-serving acts, and you are seeing a totally different person in him. Are we seeing the same thing ? How can we see two different interpretations of the same behavior? And please don’t blame the media, because his actions are very clear no matter which news media reports it.

There seems to always be some kind of excuse for this man’s irresponsible acts. Namely, his most recent admission that he downplayed the severity of the Covid pandemic, knowing that it was more severe and dangerous than the flu. He mislead the American people. As a result, thousands of lives were lost which could have been prevented if he was truthful about the virus. And why did he clash so much with the scientists?

What about his questionable involvement with the dictator of North Korea and the president of Russia? And then he turns away from NATO and the European Union. What about the numerous insults against women, including being sexually inappropriate with them. His obvious racist comments about Muslims, Mexicans, and black people. The mocking of a disabled reporter, and claiming he can shoot someone and still maintain voters (which seems to be true, sadly), and his condoning of violence during rallies, minimizing the violent acts of white supremacy, his insulting behavior to the Puerto Rican community after hurricane Maria, and the list goes on and on. What is your reasoning for all of this mentioned above?

There are also numerous Republicans who have openly spoken against this president and do not support his re-election , including Mitt Romney, John Kasich, Stuart Stevens, Cindy McCain, Jeb Bush, Collin Powell, Carly Fiorina, and the list goes on and on. Not to mention the organizations such as Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT) and the Lincoln Project. Would you say that these people and organizations are traitors? Or could they be practicing integrity and are standing up for what is truly a conservative and a free America?

And why do members of his administration keep being replaced ? Even members of his own family publish books denouncing this person and describing him as immoral and not fit to be president. Why is that?

And wasn’t Mexico paying for the wall? Who’s paying for it now? Wasn’t there supposed to be a new Healthcare plan that would replace Obamacare? Was is the Republican platform now?

And why are most Evangelical Christians praising this obvious immoral man? Do you really think this man reflects what Jesus taught ? Blessed are the poor in spirit, peacemakers, and the pure in heart. Does the president belong in this category? Would you say he loves God more than his own money? Does he even go to church?

After all, we are all Americans and we should be able to have a commander in chief who can respect and reflect what America is really about. Someone who truly represents freedom, democracy, inclusivity, conservatism, and respect. I wish we can make America united again.

Please, if you are going to comment and respond, do it in a respectful and civil manner. As peaceful as you can be. Because I don’t mean any disrespect to anyone. I just simply wish to understand.

Thank you, and be safe.

Another Loss…

My step Dad just passed away. He was 97 years old. He tested positive for Covid 19 before he died. My mom sounds ok although she is sad about her loss. I wasn’t very close to him, but he was a great companion to my mom. They married 20 years ago, a few months after I was married. Mom had a rough time with her first marriage. But she found this other man who shared so much more with her.

They prayed and went to church together. They rarely had a serious fight. He was a humble man who loved God and his family very much.

But most significant for me is the fact that my step Dad accepted having my brother, who suffers from cerebral palsy, live with them. My mom has always been very protective of my brother and wanted to continue to take care of him while she could. And her husband was kind enough to allow it to happen.

Because of that, and because he loved my mom very much, I thank God for my step Dad.

My mom visiting my step-dad at the hospice place. She had to see him through a window because of Covid.

Working During Quarantine

The irony of the pandemic

Farm companies giving away food.

People contacting each other more. Family spending more time together.

Wild Animals are seen roaming more freely.

Less air and water pollution. Fish can be seen more clearly and mountains are more visible.

People being more aware of the needs of others and the importance of essential workers.

More people are returning to their hobbies and developing new skills.

We are learning to appreciate nature and silence more.

We are all reminded that life is fragile and we need to live it slowly, with care and compassion.

We are more conscious about our hygiene.

Streets are safer and people are learning to be patient with grocery lines.

We are entering a new era in our evolutionary human history. Future generations will hopefully learn from us.