Up next for your Kerth Quiz enjoyment, Quiz #12 - Best Short Story.
SPIFFY DISCLAIMER THINGY! All the stories featured in this quiz qualify for the Best Drama, but this quiz is not a stamp of recommendation for nomination. There are other stories which qualify for this category, but this quiz only covers 10.
Recommendations for other eligible stories are *very* welcome and encouraged!
QUIZ RULES: Two points for getting the story and author from the quote; one point for getting it from the excerpt. Specify which is which, or you'll automatically get one point instead of two. Open hard drive and archive, *don't* forget to snip the excerpts in your replies, and don't forget the spoiler space when you post in the replies thread.
The DEADLINE for entries for this quiz is Sunday at 11:59 PM EST.
More elaborate quiz instructions can be found
here. Please post your answers
here. Have fun! Good luck!
When I started working on this quiz, I had it in my mind to include all authors that are eligible for this category. About half way through, I realized that this was going to be a long quiz... So without further adieu, I present quiz # 12. (And I sure hope I didn't skip anyone. I did not include any stories by "Various.")
Nancy
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Quote # 1: “I know; it’s just that I don’t want you to think we forgot about you. We’ve been really busy with work lately and Superman has been just as busy. I want to make these last few months at home for you, special.”
Quote # 2: "Ouch," Clark said, raising an eyebrow. "Talk about a heart-breaker. What did those decorations ever do to you?"
Quote # 3: "Clark, please honey, can we quit for a few minutes so that I can talk to you about my doctor's visit?" Lois asked with a slight tremor in her voice.
Quote # 4: "What?" I asked her cautiously. If she expected easy forgiveness for breaking my heart, what could she possibly be about to do now that she would be worried about?
Quote # 5: Lois’ eyes got wide and her mouth dropped open. “You, YOU... Mr. Hardbody!” She yelled. “No wonder you get all the interviews! Why, I... You...” With that she trod right out into the water and came face to face with him. “I should...”
Quote # 6: "There!" Lois smiled, her brown eyes twinkling with mischief. "Isn't this better than sitting under a tent away from the sunshine? After all, this *is* a picnic. You know, a relaxed time for family and friends?"
Quote # 7: "Take a chance," she whispered to herself outside his door. "You can say anything to your best friend."
Quote # 8: Five minutes to the ball drop. The crowd below was noisy, singing *Auld Lang Syne*.
Quote # 9: "I'm not here to cause any trouble at all," Ellie said reassuringly. "I'm here as... well, as a sort of apology."
Quote # 10: Lois bit her lip nervously. "Promise you won't tell anyone? Anyone at all? Not Perry or Jimmy or even Superman?"
Quote # 11: "Ah, the continued unpredictability of business." Lex had to hide his smile behind his hand. "I suppose it's been pretty hard on your family."
Quote # 12: "Absolutely." *Like she had never done before and will probably never do again*.
Quote # 13: "Just a bit of information," he answered. "What floor is the maternity ward on, and when are the visiting hours?"
Quote # 14: "My mom plays tennis, or at least she used to. She was captain of her girl's team in High School. Maybe she could give you some pointers."
Quote # 15: "I don't think I've ever -- *will* ever -- meet anyone quite like you," she says, and for an instant, he's struck by the feeling that she's saying just as much, and concealing it in the same manner, as he did when commenting on her beauty.
Quote # 16: Dr. Connolly asked them if they had any questions. Clark asked the first one, "What's the cure?"
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Excerpt # 1: “You’re invulnerable. If something goes wrong, a c-section is not an option unless there’s kryptonite involved, which probably isn’t a good idea. And things can go wrong in many ways involving delivery that have nothing to do with the baby not being fully human. I am human, so a c-section was always an option. I could go on and on with a list of scenarios that need to be considered, but I think you get the point, and that you should talk to Dr. Klein. He can at least begin to come up with an emergency plan. He doesn’t need to replace your OB, but he should be informed.” Lois waited to see if Tara had anything to say, but she remained silent, probably filling in the list of things that could go wrong.
Excerpt # 2: He had just reached his desk when Lois came striding back to hers. She looked even more displeased than she had before. In fact, Clark could swear that he saw Jimmy literally jump out of Mad Dog Lane's warpath. Not to be discouraged, Clark brushed the snow from the shoulders of his coat, then slipped out of the garment and hung it up.
Excerpt # 3: Dr. Klein in his usual mad-scientist mode was working away in his lab, with all his assistants gone for the day. He was checking and re-checking figures as he poured small beakers of liquid into other beakers. He barely looked up as Clark called out his name.
Excerpt # 4: It didn't matter. She wouldn't figure it out. She didn't want to know. That was the only explanation for the fact that she didn't know now. Not when she knew both Clark Kent and Superman better than anyone and had never even guessed.
Excerpt # 5: And Lois was waiting. She *would* get her interview. And then her mouth dropped open and she could hardly believe her eyes. Superman joyfully cavorted and played in the water. His joy was infectious and she smiled broadly. Yes, he was giving her quite a show. But once, he stayed under for fifteen minutes and she was getting worried. But what could she do? It wasn’t like she could rescue him if he had drowned. She put her arms to her heart and shuddered in fear. Just then, she sighed as he burst out of the water.
Excerpt # 6: The pleasant weather had made the day even better than she had expected so far. She had arrived in time to help set up the first aid tent and light a few grills. Once that was done she'd laid her blanket out under a large sheltering oak tree. Several co-workers had come over to chat with her briefly. Even Cat had stopped by with her latest date; a bored looking blonde Adonis whose name escaped Lois' memory as soon as they left.
Excerpt # 7: She opened her front door and the first thing that caught her eye was the trophy case containing her Kerths. She slammed the door shut as she remembered how she had lost a Kerth to Clark a few months ago. Hell, she had let Clark beat her to at least three different stories in just the last month alone. In the end, those stories all got published under their shared by-line, but the angle and the majority of the legwork had been Clark's. She was obviously slipping.
Excerpt # 8: Then Clark had tried to tell her *he* was Superman. Like that was even possible. Granted there was some vague physical similarity -- both Clark and Superman had brown eyes and black hair and both had excellent physiques, but that's where the resemblance ended. There was no way Clark was Superman, and she told him so.
Excerpt # 9: Lois loved the view of the mountains. After all those years in the city, who could have imagined that she'd fall in love with open grasslands and distant snow covered peaks. A lot had changed in the 124 years she'd been on this planet.
Excerpt # 10: Lois paced back and forth in her apartment, psyching herself up, letting some of her worry best her and show through in her mannerisms. The more nervous she seemed, the better chance of him listening to her, and the better the chance he'd actually show up to help. Speaking of which...
Excerpt # 11: Lex leaned back, a large smile growing on his face. He glanced down at the desktop as if looking for the humidor that used to always grace his office desk. There wasn't one there. He really would have liked to smoke an expensive Cuban just then, but he wasn't quite back to that kind of reality. Still, he had a lot to look forward to. The fun was just about to start.
Excerpt # 12: But with her head back on his shoulder, he wasn't going to let thoughts of tomorrow spoil tonight. In fact, Clark hoped the evening would never end. He could walk the entire city and never get tired. Okay, he could do that anyway, but that wasn't what he had meant. Walking and talking with Lois was a close second to kissing her.
Excerpt # 13: He scanned his surroundings as only he could, then pulled up his sleeve to reveal an electronic device slightly larger than a watch. He held his finger above the return button and glanced toward the baby girl.
Excerpt # 14: When they arrived they would all have report cards to show their parents. How well they all did would reflect on him and his ability to supervise his sisters and brother and how well he oversaw their homework. Jon hoped they all had done well.
Excerpt # 15: A minute earlier, and she would have been telling him that she might just possibly love him as more than a friend. She hadn't thought she loved him, but that mirror in Lex Tower that had framed her in her wedding dress had certainly been revealing, pulling out of her the simple "Lois Lane Kent" that betrayed
the fact that she *did* think of Clark as a possible romantic partner. Since then, all week long, she'd been looking at him in a new light, sneaking sidelong glances at him and wondering what it would be like to have him as a boyfriend or as a lover or -- and this surprised her, but she blamed the wedding dress for it -- as a husband.
Excerpt # 16: After about 15 minutes, Clark was alerted by the quiet that Todd had stopped playing with his shape sorter. Clark immediately looked up to see Todd standing. Clark watched to make sure that his younger son wasn't going to get into any mischief; he certainly didn't want a repeat of the previous week's spice-dumping incident. But instead of heading toward the kitchen, Todd approached Jerome's chair and reached his little arms around his brother to give him a quick hug. He scampered off almost before Clark realized what had happened, let alone before Jerome could turn around to reciprocate the hug.
