I'm reading too, Rac, and I'm sorry I don't feel up to quoting from this chapter. But again this part is amazingly well written, poignant, beautiful and harrowing. I was so moved by Ching's and Zarah's love scene. I was even more moved by your description of how Clark meets Lois in his dream or imagination; even though he knows that he is dreaming, the experience is still so real to him, and the delicate beauty of this scene is so wonderful. I feel as if you have managed to distil the idea of human (or Kryptonian) goodness and make it take shape in an imaginary, exquisitely tender love scene.
The description of Lois's emotional suffering is almost unbearable. It doesn't make it any easier that we are not talking about just her own suffering; it was almost more than I could stand to read about Luc and Ingrid's parents in this chapter.
How do you still believe in the goodness of the human heart when you have seen the unspeakable power of evil? How do you keep believing in a happy ending when you have seen the horrors of war? How do you stay sane and functioning when you can't stop yourself from going to the cruelest place on Earth to help, even though you know that what you do will never be enough?
I'm glad Lois is going to see Doctor Friskin. I'm glad you have given us this wonderful portrait of a superpowered, amazingly tenacious, brave and good Lois Lane, hero and mother. And I'm glad to see your tender portrait of a non-superpowered Clark. I wonder if I've ever said it, but the role reversal for Lois and Clark in this story is so moving and fascinating.
Thank you for your story, Rac, where you show us the forces of good and evil and deliver it all in your incomparable, delicate writing style.
Ann
