I highly doubt anyone remembers this story, but life decided to cut me a break, so here's the next part. If you have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

Rac

Wow! well you sucked me right back into this story. You just have to finish it. This part was very gripping and full of anguish and very powerful.

Are you kidding?!? I was so excited when I saw that you'd posted another part!

Your writing is amazing - your characters are so real. I just feel anguish for what they're going through.

I'm glad RL is giving you a break!

Amber

Do you really think anyone could have forgotten this story? I first saw the FDK thread for it and just thought, OK, there is someone just reminding the author, but then I saw the number of reviews in it: two! Too low for an old review thread of this story! So I started scrolling down and Bingo! A new chapter!

Poor Clark, so devastated after what he did while being asleep... will he now finally seek professional help? Will he start to talk to someone about what happened to him?

Your characters feel so real... it´s simply perfect!

So when can I expect the next chapter?

YAY! New part!! Excellent new part!!! I am so glad this story is back. Is there a posting schedule?

Rac, I am so glad you're back! I missed this story a lot. You have been missed, too. I'm sorry you got caught up in all that craziness, but I'm glad your life has settled down a bit. Congratulations on your new job! I hope it's challenging without being overwhelming.

Now, to comments! Clark is about to crack, isn't he? I think he needs to see someone who can keep all of his secrets, someone like Dr. Friskin, someone who can help him find his way back to life. (A brief glimpse of Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore singing "Way Back Into Love" just flashed through my head. Weird, huh? Or just appropriate?) And he needs to share some of his pain with Lois so that she can begin to understand what he went through. I suggest that he begin with those scars on his upper body. He should point to one, tell her how Nor gave it to him, and let her cry with him.

Post-traumatic stress syndrome is dangerous, and that's what Clark is suffering from. If he were to try to perform his Superman duties now, he'd end up clobbering someone, maybe even killing that someone. He can't afford that, not on any level. Please, Clark, get some professional help!

Looking forward to the next chapter. Great story, Rac! Keep 'em coming!

Welcome back, Rac!

This is such a powerful portrait of what war, or rather fear and shocks, does to you. Think of dogs or cats that have been beaten and ill-treated. It is hard to give battered animals back their trust in life and people again. And I don't think battered and ill-treated people are all that different. When I was quite young, I read Dorothy Sayers' Busman's Honeymoon - it was so romantic! It made me blush! But anyway, the hero of the book, Lord Peter Wimsey, almost has a breakdown in that book because his horrible memories from World War I is catching up with him.

You describe so vividly how Clark's fears from his stay on Krypton are staying with him:
Perversely, in spite of the horrors he suffered on Krypton, he might have been mentally stronger or at least far more assured there than he is here:

When a man is at war, his rules are simple. Defeat the enemy. Save the people who are being oppressed or threatened by the enemy. Stay alive. Do all of that, and you will be allowed to return home to the people you love, and with them you will find solace. With them everything will be all right. Except it isn't so simple, because the man who returns from war isn't the same person as the man who set out for foreign shores to fight the war.

This is a beautiful portrait of a noble man who has been deeply wounded, and who is fighting to become, if not the same good man that he was before, then at least another kind of good man that he himself can trust and be proud of.

Ann

*yay* you're back

And the story is heartbreaking as ever. Those poor kids

Michael

Hi all,

Thanks for the very kind comments. I'm glad to see people enjoyed this section, even though I haven't posted in ages. I'm also glad to see that this part went over all right. I wasn't certain about the idea of Clark hitting Lois, even if it was in the throes of a nightmare. It's just such an unbelievable and uncharacteristic thing for Clark to do. But in the context of the story, it just made sense to me.

I am writing more regularly and will try to post more soon.

Regards,

Rac