[Story] Girl Born in 2039

Originally submitted for a Tec Prize which was via the challenge site Herox.com, I put it here for anyone to read. I did not win but it was a good experience.

Girl Born in 2039

I had lived a privilege life. The only nightmare that I ever saw was in virtual reality games and when they became too horrifying I could always disconnect and watch a comedy. It took the end of the world to snatch the veil from in front of face. I felt and saw for the first time what most of my fellow humans endured almost every single day – a society where the amount of money not only determined your social status but also your health and basic human rights. I laughed sadly as I dug into my pockets and pulled out the only money I had which was barely six dollars. A US dollar was mostly worthless these days so unless I steal again I would die from hunger.

The start of the downfall of my life began surprisingly enough on graduation day. The beginning never anticipated a tragedy. The year was 2057 and I was about to graduate from high school. I live in a world where we have virtual reality worlds, artificial intelligence, personal flying vehicles, self-driving cars, quantum computers and full-body tissue engineering. This is not to mention the space hotels in low earth orbit which even the average middle class citizen can afford to spend a few days. It was even cheaper than flying to Fiji sometimes. The first fully underwater city off the coast of the United Arab Emirates has also just been built last year. We, China, and Russia all have permanent settlements on the moon though a trip there was still beyond the price tag of most folks. We don’t have a presence on Mars yet but we do have an advance research base. I do feel that this is a wondrous time to be alive.

[Health] Guts and Brain

This article was originally submitted for a writing contest held by billionaire Naveen Jain's bio company Viome.

The idiom “you are what you eat” may be based more on reality than you might think. Scientific research is beginning to better understand the connection between bacteria in the digestive system and its impact on the neurological system. Metazoans, such as humans, are significantly affected by gut bacteria (known as microbiota) in critical aspects of our physiology – notably our brain through metabolism and the immune system. The human body contains trillions of microorganisms – outnumbering human cells by 10 to 1 – with many of them being in our gut starting from the esophagus and ending in the colon.

Microbiota regulates the metabolism of humans through generating a concoction of essential vitamins and other nutrients for the host. Upon consuming complex carbohydrates, microbiota metabolize the fiber into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) such as acetate, butyrate, and propionate. SCFAs produced in our intestines travel not only into our blood serum but these fatty acids can also cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). One particular SCFA –acetate—affects changes in the hypothalamus, altering physiology, which leads to hormone signals being produced which give a sense of satiety. A small study with humans has shown that consuming such complex carbohydrates leads to feeling full.

Literature: Shadows of Love

Shadows of Love

Your presence once blanketed me
But your love was one of which
Blotted out the sun and left me
In such comfortable shadows

The darkness has its own appeal
And for a time I wanted to feel
Skirting amongst pain and thrill
This shimmering edge of insanity

The light is always brighter still
And happiness directs its own will
So I walked away from your sight
To see in solitude the sunlight

Nostalgia has never been my forte
And this poem is not a serenade
For I am not one to spill tears
On memories of yesterday's years

Obstacles to Happiness

I must had a smile on my face earlier today while at the laundromat for the person working there told me that I look very happy. I told him that I don't see any reason why I shouldn't. I thought of reasons in my mind but really there should be no reasons I need to think of. After all, happiness is our natural state. Happiness is the natural state of children, until they have been polluted by the stupidity so prevalent in society and culture. To acquire happiness, you don't have to do anything because happiness cannot be acquired. You have it already. How can you acquire what you already have?

Then why don't you experience it? Because you've to drop what you're carrying. You don't have to add anything in order to be happy; you've got to drop something. Life is hard only when you have your illusions, your ambitions, your greed, your cravings, etc. Do you know where these things come from? They exist from you identifying yourself with labels of every variety.

There was a lawyer who was presented with a plumber's bill. He said to the plumber, "Hey, you're charging me $200 an hour. I don't make that kind of money as a lawyer!" The plumber said, "I didn't make that kind of money when I was a lawyer either!" You could be a plumber or lawyer but that shouldn't affect the essential "I". If I change my profession tomorrow, it's just like changing my clothes. I am untouched! Are you your clothes? Are you your name? Are you your profession? Stop identifying with them. They come and they leave.

When you truly understand this, no criticism can affect you. No flattery or praise can affect you either. When someone says, "You're a good guy," what is he saying? He's not talking about "I." "I" am neither good nor bad. "I" am neither a success nor a failure. It's none of these labels. These labels depend on the criteria society establishes. These labels depend on your conditioning - your level of being brainwashed by your culture, society, and people you know. These labels depend on the mood of the person who happens to be talking to you right now. "I" am none of these labels.

Uninterrupted happiness requires no cause. True happiness is just there. You cannot make me happy and you are not my happiness, whoever or whatever you happen to be. Someone can ask the awakened person, "Why are you happy?" and the awakened person replies, "Why not?". That is the only answer possible.

Literature: Desert Trek

A sense of expansive solitude struck her when she raised her left hand and shielded her eyes from the harsh sunlight. She had always thought of the desert as a desolate place replete with sand dunes and little else. Her mental picture wasn't wrong; her mind just couldn't take the reality of such vast desolation. 

The heavy silence was pervasively deafening. The arid air static with the smell of dust and her sweat was equally discomforting and the torrid heat had long soaked her body with her own sweat. She opened her cracked lips to take a swig of water and tasted only coppery dust.

The forbidding atmosphere left her to briefly ponder on the tenacious stupidity of those who chose to wander such a barren wasteland. She took a look at her compass and noted that she was still in the right orientation. The way to the oasis was not far and she needed to be on her way. Shrugging off the last vestige of contemplation, she trudged onward.

Three steps in and her right foot had once again sunk into a foot of sand again. With a grudging sigh, she shook her boots and waited as a fine stream of gravel and sand poured out leaving behind traces of sand that had long formed a solid congregation next to her toes. At the pace she's going, reaching the oasis before sunset will be a miracle. The more likely scenario is making do with another campfire and a restless sleep chilled by the wind that swept across the dunes.

Reality as always resulted in the likely scenario. Darkness found her at least half a day's journey still from the oasis. She grasped her cloak and covered her face as the dusty wind blew by. Cautiously, she set up camp and managed to make a small camp fire sheltered from the wind. Roasted lizards never really appealed to her before but somehow her stomach appreciated the generous offer now.

Sated and tired, she laid back on the sleeping pad and pulled her blankets close. Tomorrow was another day but for now there was just now. The desert was harsh but it offered a timeless view of the heavens. She could see the evening star barely peeking its head from the horizon to the west and the North star standing like a sentinel overhead. Scattered between the two, half a dozen constellations with names that she barely remembered named by the ancient astronomers.

Maybe at the end of the day that's all that matters. We ask ourselves why anyone will live here but the answer is marked in the heavens and earth. This timeless place is impossible to replace. Maybe we are the ones who became lost when we turned our backs on our past. Grains of thoughts piled upon each other until they collapsed with the avalanche of sleep that struck her without warning.