by Jason Ayres
“It’s funny you should say that,” he began. “But that’s yet another story. Right now all you need to know is that your world is safe. All you need to do is get on with your life like before.”
“Speaking of which, I need to get up and get dressed,” I said. “So if you wouldn’t mind…?” I gestured towards the door.
“No need for a door,” he said, reaching into his backpack and pulling out a familiar-looking object. “I’ve got this.”
“Well, you just be careful where you point that thing!” I exclaimed. “Remember what happened last time!”
“That’s what she said,” he replied, laughing and eliciting a small chuckle from me, too. In a strange way I was going to miss this mysterious time-travelling man.
“Will I ever see you again?” I asked.
“Do you want to?” he replied.
Did I want to? It was an interesting question. Despite the relief of being back where I belonged, part of me was going to miss the excitement that my time-travelling had brought, even if I had spent most of it worrying that I was about to die.
“Tell you what,” I said. “How about I become your special agent in this time zone? If you ever find yourself back in this time and need someone with time-travel experience to help you on one of your projects, then look me up.”
“I’ll do that,” he said. “And now, I must go.”
He held out his device in front of him which I noticed wasn’t the same as the one he had had in the past. This looked newer, made from a shinier metal of a type I didn’t recognise. It was also larger with more buttons on the front than I remembered.
“An upgrade?” I asked.
“Yes, and it does a lot more than the old one did. And this one actually works properly,” he said. “Well, I guess this is it.”
He pressed a button and began to step forward.
“Until next time,” I said, and watched as he disappeared. For a few seconds I held the quilt close to me, as if, irrationally, I believed he could still see me, before I let it drop and began to look for some clothes.
As I did so, I heard the telltale clink of coffee mugs from out in the flat.
Phoebe and Lily! I felt overwhelmed with joy at the thought of seeing them again. Pulling on just a T-shirt and knickers, not caring if this would offend Lily, I wrenched the door handle open and ran out into the kitchen.
There they were, standing by the coffee machine, cups in hand, the picture of normality. If they were surprised at my sudden appearance, they were even more taken aback when I launched myself around the pair of them in a huge group hug, almost knocking their cups out of their hands in the process.
They must have thought I was crazy, but I didn’t care because right now I was exactly where I belonged, with the two people I loved more than anyone else alive in the world.
The End.
Reviews
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Also by Jason Ayres
The Time Bubble
Charlie and Josh’s interests were the same as most other teenagers: drinking, parties and girls. That was until the day they discovered the Time Bubble.
It starts as a bit of fun, jumping a few seconds into the future. Soon things take a more serious turn as the leaps in time increase in duration. When a teenage girl goes missing, and the police become involved, suspicion falls on Charlie. How can he explain where she is? Will anyone believe him?
Set in a small market town in Southern England in the early 21st century, this light-hearted time travel novel has plenty to delight readers of all ages.
This story is the first part of a series which continues with Global Cooling, Man out of Time and Splinters in Time. A spin-off series, Second Chances, is also available.
UK Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00L3K1B8G/
US Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L3K1B8G/
Global Cooling
Time travel meets apocalyptic weather event in this eagerly awaited sequel to The Time Bubble!
In 2029, Earth is facing a major climate catastrophe. An asteroid strike blankets the globe in dust and ash, blocking out the sunlight. Soon temperatures begin to fall. As weather conditions worsen, the residents of a small market town in Southern England must make a decision - flee south or wait for the worst to pass. With power supplies failing and food scarce, survival is at stake as those with darker motives seek to take advantage of the situation. For those heading south, can the discovery of a new Time Bubble provide a way out?
Global Cooling is the second part of The Time Bubble series. Set a decade after the events of the first book, this story picks up the lives of the main characters as they reach their late twenties. The story continues with Man out of Time.
A spin-off series, Second Chances, is also available.
UK Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00OTTETV4/
US Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OTTETV4/
Man Out Of Time
What would you do if you found yourself cast 22 years into the future? Into a world where your home is no longer your home and you've been declared legally dead?
This is the situation that Daniel Fisher finds himself in at the beginning of this latest installment in The Time Bubble series. Stranded in the future, in a place where his outdated currency is worthless, things go from bad to worse for Dan very quickly. Before long he finds himself incarcerated in a secure psychiatric unit, his hopes of ever returning to the past looking bleak.
Elsewhere, Josh has unlocked the secrets of the time bubbles, and can now freely travel in time. He returns to the scene of past encounters, as well as travelling to the future to join Peter on his adventures through time. But has he been careful enough to prevent others from discovering his secrets?
Man out of Time is the third novel in The Time Bubble series. The story continues with Splinters in Time.
A spin-off series, Second Chances, is also available.
UK Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B013A0ZN7Q/
US Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013A0ZN7Q/
Splinters in Time
Getting lost in the wrong time was bad enough. But things get far worse for Josh Gardner when he can't even find his way back to his own universe.
When his ex-girlfriend, Lauren, starts having recurring nightmares about a strange alternate reality in which she was murdered, Josh becomes interested in proving the existence of other universes. Finding a focal point in the past from which thousands of new universes seem to stem, he travels back in time to find out how they were created. Unfortunately he ends up causing the very event that he went back to investigate.
Cast adrift in the multiverse, he no longer has any control over where and when he will end up. With each jump sending him further and further back in time, he finds himself lurching from one alternate universe to another, some similar to his own, others drastically different. In worlds ravaged by wars and diseases, in many cases it becomes a battle just to stay alive.
This story is the fourth instalment of The Time Bubble series. A spin-off series, Second Chances, is also available.
UK Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/ B074FHGSXZ/
US Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/ B074FHGSXZ/
Class of ‘92
Josh Gardner, a man born in 2001, finds himself stranded in 1992 in this latest novel from the acclaimed Time Bubble series.
&nbs
p; Alone in a pre-internet culture, with funds low, Josh seeks out the one person who can help him survive in the twentieth century, his former teacher, Peter, who is now younger than he is.
Finding somewhere to live and a means of support until he can return to his own time are soon the least of Josh's worries as a new Time Bubble mystery develops.
A local police officer, Rebecca Osakwe, discovers that there is more to a spate of people going missing than meets the eye. When people from decades in the past start showing up she teams up with Josh and Peter to investigate. Together, the new Time Bubble team face some tough challenges as they try and deal with the new arrivals.
Time travel fans who enjoy a healthy slice of 1990s nostalgia will love this fifth volume in The Time Bubble series.
UK Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07KYTF4BY/
US Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KYTF4BY/
About the author
Jason Ayres lives in the market town of Evesham with his wife and two sons.
Following a lengthy career in market research, he turned his hand to writing whilst bringing up his children. This included the popular Stay At Home Dad column in the Oxford Mail.
Encouraged by this success, he moved on to writing time travel novels, releasing The Time Bubble in the summer of 2014. This original and well-received story has since spawned a host of spin-offs and sequels.
Want to know more about Jason?
You can find his official website here:
https://www.jasonayres.co.uk/
Find him on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/AusterityDad/
Or check out his Facebook page for the latest news:
https://www.facebook.com/TheTimeBubble/
