Fictional Times: A fabulous anthology of wondrous stories

By Christian Abresch

A child suddenly remembers his past lives in full, a young man wakes up after a ten years lasting sleep, a man relates his encounter with an immortal, and somebody is faced with the possibility of changing the past to save the one he loves but has to pay a price for it... What if time were not the mysterious dimension we think it to be now?
This anthology holds eight intriguing stories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Abresch
• Release date: Jun 9, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458022332

Christian Abresch

When I was fifteen, I stayed home to write a fantasy book instead of going with my parents and my brother on vacation. Now I’m thirty and wrote two fantasy novels, countless poems and stories and co-published a book with ethnographic studies about the relationship between globalization and regionalization in alimentation.I felt the urge to write fictional short stories after reading Neil Gaiman’s fantastic short story-collection “Smoke and Mirrors“. If you haven’t read it yet, you should totally do. It opens more worlds to you than one would have thought possible.

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Fictional Times

A fabulous anthology of wondrous stories

by Christian K. Abresch

Published by Christian Karl Abresch 2011

at Smashwords

www.xiagan.net

Text copyright 2011 Christian Karl Abresch

Cover illustration copyright 2011 by Max Cahill

1 Bar Design

The author and illustrator assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of the work.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It

is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of

true art and true science.

—ALBERT EINSTEIN

Table of Contents

The sleep

To never die...

Time traveling gone wrong

Time and again

Starseeds

Last one standing

Last Christmas

Ripples and waves

The sleep

I must’ve slept for a few years. It is the most solid theory about what happened. And I don’t really have another explanation. Yes, I know, this doesn’t sound plausible at all, and worse, it’s not my biggest problem. But first things first. I grew up in the eighties/nineties with all its good points (Nintendo) and drawbacks (neon-colored leggings). We played in the streets and in the woods and despite all the horrid banner headings no men ever tried to give us candy for a ride in their car.

I went to high school and college like all my friends did, fell in and out of love, had a half-serious car accident, and made a trip to Central and Southern Europe with a friend of mine. Have you seen ‘Euro Trip’? It was partly more boring and partly much worse than that movie. Anyway, I’m wandering from the subject. Back from that trip, I learned that my Great Aunt Sophie had died. I hadn’t seen her for years but had always been fond of her – contrary to my parents. Aunt Sophie had been married more than once, and that was something my old ones always looked down their nose upon. The worst thing for my dad was that she had been married to a Canadian. He was a true patriot, my dad, and never forgave the ‘Moosefuckers and Fur Trappers’ for burning the White House in eighteen-something.

When I learned that I inherited her small home in Montreal, I applied successfully for a scholarship at McGill and moved there. I studied at the Department of Philosophy with enthusiasm, even if I hated the ten-storey concrete structure it was in. My father cut ties with me and because of that I lost touch with my mum too.

I knew all the people who studied with me, we went drinking and stuff, but somehow we never got close. I separated myself from everyone without realizing it. The phone calls and emails to my old friends got less and my new friends, well, we were partying and doing presentations together, but I didn’t know where they lived or anything personal. I think at that time I could’ve died in my bed