Hello Lieta,
Another good vignette. It reminds me of what is far and away my favourite scene from Man of Steel. I can very much identify strongly with Martha in both: My son's hearing is hyperacute, although by no means to the extent that Clark's is. He easily suffers sensory overload. Until he was about ten, it took the form of him curling into a fetal position and screaming. Now he tries grabbing my arm and dragging me away from the offending stimuli. Part of the problem is the movement of a lot of people milling about, but part is definitely that he is in pain from the noise. (To a lesser extent, I experienced the same thing as a child; the only way I could listen to my sister's band concerts was to be out in the lobby away from the open doors; only then was the volume low enough not to cause me physical pain.)
Both you and MoS captured well both Clark's misery and Martha's trying to do what she can despite feeling helpless. (MoS had the added "bonus" of bystanders' reactions -- the looks that said that the child is obviously a freak and something must be wrong with the mother that she can't even control her own child. Alas, that, too, is all too true to life.)
Looking forward to reading about Clark's other powers coming in.
Joy,
Lynn
