Rajesh Patel

“Dogecoin” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #92

I am in my basement, in my bedroom. Curtains closed. Door closed. It is 3 AM. Tuesday morning. I feel that my life is over. I see no light at the end of the tunnel. Why am I still alive? Why was I brought into this world? I have known Ricky since he was a three and half and I was five. We spent a great time of our childhood together. Especially the summers once school was done for the year. Ricky’s dad knew well my dad from their hometown in London, England. Now we live in Toronto, Canada. I think from my first ever memories ever, Ricky ...

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“Simpson's Rule” by Rajesh Patel

This was a time when my student life would not allow me to have a social life. To be in college and taking seven classes in a pre-engineering program was not a walk in a park. In my first year, I was also working on the weekends at McDonald’s.   In this second semester, I was taking a calculus class, chemistry, and physics, among my core courses. I needed to be alert, focused and ace those classes so I get a chance to get admitted in engineering. A department that had limited seats because of its high demand. Mathematics was always ...

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“Tunnel Rats” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #90

The year is 2131. Mankind has destroyed forests, jungles, oceans, and all type of natural habitats. All that in the name of capitalism. In a world where money talks, money walks, and money enslaves, we are primarily producing, consuming, producing, consuming…  We have been working more and more to sustain this world economy where the demand never ceases to increase on matters that are not essential. We are working on average 48 hours a week. However, the cost of life keeps on increasing exponentially. Humans have no considerati...

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“SafeMoon” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #89

  Where to begin my story? It seems like that everything crumbled within a month. I lost my job. I lost my wife. I lost my house. I lost my friend.   I met my wife when I was twenty years old when I was in my first year in engineering. My God. I still remember when she entered the class. She was on crutches with her school back on her back, and holding a binder in her hands. It was love at first sight for me. Not for her though. I had to courtship her for maybe weeks, months…but then we became soulmates.   My wife, Sonia...

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“The Boy That Always Lied” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #88

Once upon a time, there was a little boy, living in a village. A village, quite remote, where the closest town, village and city, was a good hour by horse ride. This young boy, Peter, from a young age, had always found his way out from stressful situations just by lying to people. For him, it was a quick fix. A quick way to get rid of the problem, a bandage on an injury. He never thought of the long-term consequences. He never thought of a permanent fix, or…just to be honest with respect to the situation or people involved. At ...

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“The New Job Offer” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #87

Christos, but people who knew him well, called him Chris. I called him Chris and sometimes, I called him Iceman. Why? Because Chris was a Top Gun fan. The movie from 1986 and he adored the character played by Val Kilmer.    Chris had been working for a long time for this major telecom player in the country. A good decade. He was good at what he did. I would say to him: Chris, you are the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be. Yes, Chris was also a WWE/WWF fan. And…a huge Bret Hart fan. So, using thi...

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“Back to Life” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #86

In this part of the world, winters can start as early as mid-October. The days start getting shorter. The sun sets earlier. The cold kicks in. You see less people walking past sunset. It gets really quiet. It feels like the town is in hibernation. If ever the snow starts even earlier, then, a few, like me, we don’t leave the house anymore. In my case, I have a contract with my employer where as soon as the first snow fall arrives, I am allowed to work from home. Till when? Till winter ends. So easily, I stay home from November 1st, so...

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“I love Montreal but…” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #85

I was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I can say that I have spent all my life here except for six months. Coming from parents that emigrated from India to Canada, makes me a first generation born Canadian Indian in this country. Having said that I have lived pretty much all my life here. I can confirm that I do love this city. I have no regrets that my parents chose this city over thousands of places we could have ended up in the world. Life is expensive here but if you work hard, and save some money, you can go far. ...

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“My New Office” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #84

   Today, March 19th, 2020. For the first time in my life, I am working from home. I have been working for the same company for over twelve years. The option to work from home was given to me a few years ago when I became eligible due to my new role in the company. What did I do? I refused. Why? Because to work from home was too much of a distraction. Knowing that I live upstairs of a duplex that belongs to my parents. The stairs are interior. They can come see me anytime they want. I pay them a rent but it does not mean I have my...

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“Lonely Waters” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #83

What can I say? For weeks I have been on this rudimentary raft that I found on the shore. I could not take this anymore. The urban life. The fast-paced environment. The traffic. The bills. The debts. The obligations. The responsibilities. The destruction of nature. How come can I not think about myself? How about what I want? Okay, to be honest, my goal was to escape my creditors. I got into a huge debt. I blame myself. It all started due to a so-called friend that I thought had the best interest for me. He did not. He made money on my...

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“Paper Money or Plastic Card?” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #82

I am a 70-year-old man. I am retired. I live alone. My name is Gilbert Alphonso. I was born at the end of World War I. I have always been more of a concrete person than the abstract, digital or technological. I hate computers. Tell me to build a mechanical equipment. I will do it for you. Anything about cars, plumbing, house renovations…I will get it done. Today, I had to wait in line for almost an hour at my local bank before I was served by a teller. When finally, my turn came, the young lady told me that the bank is going through a ...

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“My Only Love” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #81

Time does fly. Sometimes it seems like it was yesterday and sometimes it feels like it was ages ago.    I met my wife when I was 15 years old. In high school. When I saw her the first time, I was in awe. I cannot explain the feeling. It is like my heart stopped beating. Time stopped. It felt like the world slowed down around me. All in slow motion. I remember, it was my first day of class of the year. Summer about to end. It was Tuesday after Labor Day. I was always and even today, a very punctual person. For some reason, t...

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“Earth 980” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #80

The day has arrived. World leaders have been planning on this for the past twenty years. As the only intelligent species on this planet, we could not save Earth. The human race failed and big time. We became our own worst enemy.    By 2040, the world population had reached a staggering ten billion. Population is out of control. To supply food to the entire planet has become difficult. We are seeing more and more of typhoons, hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, whirlpools, earthquakes, extreme temperature fluctuations, the rise ...

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“The New Kid” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #79

For some reason, my parents did not want me to attend high school that was the closest to our house. I was not pleased. I was going to miss my friends that I had known for almost my entire elementary school years. The only argument my parents were giving me is that the public bus by which I will be attending my new school was very convenient in terms of where the bus stand location was from my home to that school, and also, for my return from school to home. Also, they kept saying that I will recognize my old neighbors, Jake and Kate, who we...

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“Home Cinema” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #78

  ‘’Raj, how long are you going to stay home, and just keep working on your laptop???’’ Chris yelled.    ‘’I know but I feel better when I am up to date with my cases and my emails,’’ answered Raj.    Both have been close friends for quite some time. They know well each other. Chris is a gamer. Spends a lot of time playing games on consoles. Especially adventures, and first-person shooter games. Call of Duty for example. Raj is a movie buff. Not movies on Netflix at home. Movies at cinemas. At one ...

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