Well, as for the lights thing... I tried to explain it earlier when the phenomenon first occurred. Very first paragraph of the story:
The road loomed eerily before me as the street lamps went out in front of the car. One, by one, by one. Perhaps it was my headlights tripping the sensors. Maybe the alignment was off? It was a rental vehicle, so who knew what some joy-rider had done to it.
The headlights on his rental car are misaligned and pointing up too much. Because of this, they are tricking the streetlamp sensors into thinking it is daytime, and they shut off momentarily until it goes dark again and the car has passed. I know for sure that this can happen because my car did it at one point and, good lord, it was quite annoying until I got it fixed.
They light the roads up in housing areas like football fields to deter criminals.
For the most part Arlington is very well lit on the main roads. In residential areas it can get very, very, very dark, though. It really depends on where you are.
Anyway... this was mostly meant as a throwaway atmospheric thing, but at this point, I'm thinking of just taking it out since it's caused so much confusion, and I can't think of a good way to make it any clearer. I'll think on it some more. Any suggestions?
His daughter's what? Imaginary friend?
He was refering to his daughter's imaginary friend. This wasn't a missing word, per se, just a hidden/dropped subject as we often tend to do when we're speaking. Now that I read it so long after writing it, though, I can see where the confusion would generate. I will fix it.
Oh yeah, and from a previous part,
You're saying that a six-year old has clear memories from when she was four? Hmm. In my experience, that's pretty uncommon
I'm not really sure on this. I have been considering bumping them up to five and seven, and then the death would have occurred at three and five because one of my BRs mentioned he thought Claire acted a little bit too old for six. I have a horrible time making these comparisons because I never babysit and tend to avoid children. My only reference point is a friend who hailed from a very similar situation, and I have no idea if she is the norm or not.
Or maybe it's just how ill kryptonite can make him feel, coupled with the barely-concealed distress Jake has been in.
I personally see it as Clark not really feeling he's revealing all that much. Jake knows that he's got a kid and a wife already. Aside from revealing exactly who they are, the damage has really already been done.
Oh yeah, and Clark had an imaginary cat named Bob?!? Does Lois know this?? It has to be good for a little of that farmboy-from-the-sticks ribbing she likes to give him.
Thank you so much for the feedback, y'all
