Chromaticity
by Lieta
Disclaimer: This is a fan work based on “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.” All rights to the characters belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros. No profit was made off this work.
Clark was making full use of one of his birthday presents now that he was out of school for the summer. He had gotten a new set of crayons and a sketchbook from his mama, but hadn't wanted to use them in school. He'd wanted to save them for himself.
He was now sitting under a tree between the house and the barn, pencilling in an outline of a bird he had been watching. Mama had checked on him earlier and told him the ketch was good. Now he just had to add in the color.
Very painstakingly he matched all the colors he saw on the bird, then, with a smile, put it aside to look for another subject to draw. He had found a cluster of flowers he knew Mama liked. She taught him they were called Black-Eyed Susans.
Later that afternoon, Mama called him inside as the day reached it's hottest time. With an eager smile, Clark raced off to show his pictures to his mama.
In the kitchen, Clark sat at the table and ate a small snack while Martha looked over the two pictures he'd finished.
"Clark," Martha said, "these are wonderful. But why did you color them this way?"
Clark looked at her in confusion, "What do you mean, Mama?"
Martha frowned slightly, "This bird is a Starling, right?" Clark nodded eagerly. "Why is he rainbow colored and not black?"
Clark looked at his drawing in confusion. "But Mama, I just colored it like I saw it!"
Martha frowned at the bird colored in green and purple, with as much of the white specs as crayons allowed Clark's small hands to draw. "It's beautiful, Clark," she said uncertainly, then turned to the other picture. "And this?"
Clark looked at the flowers worriedly, afraid they were somehow 'not right' too. "They're your Susans, Mama."
Martha pursed her lips and stood, taking a flower from a vase in the open window and taking it to Clark. "Clark, tell me how you see the color of this flower."
Clark gulped, worried he was in trouble for something 'odd' again and hesitantly ran a finger along the petal. "It's black in the middle, then yellow, then here-" he pointed to the upper third of the petal, "-it gets really bright and kind of purpley."
Martha swallowed, "I don't see that, Clark, to me it all looks black and yellow."
Clark shrank into his chair. "Is it bad that I see that?"
Martha quickly shook her head. "No, sweetie, it's not bad. Some people see colors differently than others. My father couldn't tell the difference between red and green. They just looked the same to him."
Clark nibbled his lip worriedly, "But do other people see *more*?"
Martha wrapped a reassuring arm around his shoulder. "I don't know, honey, but it doesn't matter. I think it's wonderful that you see all this beautiful color I can't."
Clark hugged her back before taking his art supplies up to his room, his earlier joy in them subdued.
That evening he was picking at his dinner when he looked at the flowers in the window again. He froze. "Mama, Papa?" he asked, both Martha and Jonathon looked at him. "The flowers look just yellow now." His parents turned to stare at the flowers.
Martha suddenly straightened, "Maybe it's the sunlight?" she asked, looking at her husband who only shrugged. "We'll experiment tomorrow, Clark," she decided.
The next day, Clark and Martha set up their experiment. They had some Black-Eyed Susans and Dandelions, which Clark said he saw with brighter and more purple color on the petals than in the middle. Martha tried to block as much slight from his single window as she could and had Clark look at the flowers. He reported that the petals looked all yellow to him.
Then Martha uncovered the window. Clark frowned. "They still look yellow, Mama," he said in confusion.
Martha frowned too, then moved the flowers closer to the glass. Clark looked at them intently and nodded. "I see it now, but not as good as outside."
Martha looked between the window and the flowers, then raised the pane of glass and she and Clark looked at them in the full sunlight. Clark nodded, "Now I see it good."
With a contemplative look, Martha took off her glasses and handed them to Clark. "See what they look like with these."
Clark held the too-large frames to his face and looked at the flowers. "They look yellow." He handed the glasses back to Martha.
"Clark, sweetie, how do you feel about having your own glasses?" Martha asked.
Fin
