There was something so positive and innocent about this story. Lois and Clark are young, with their lives and careers in the not-too-distant future. Long before a crazy billionaire and an unscrupulous co-worker got in their way messing up the waters just a bit. So now, with a tad of quiet time on my hands ...
Clark understood his teammates’ grumblings. It was a gorgeous day out – cool and crisp but full of sunshine and the excitement of being in Metropolis. But, unlike his fellow football players, he wasn’t complaining about being in the museum. He was looking forward to spending the day uncovering the interesting facts held within the building and seeing all the things he’d never had the chance to see in the much smaller museum back in Kansas. He could scarcely wait to get started.
Yes! The Metropolis museum reminds me of the Metropolitan Museum in Manhattan. The place is HUGE! With enough permanent exhibits to keep you busy, forget about the new ones that come in every six months. Clark will need more than an afternoon to see this amazing gift box of history and science.
“That was gently?” Austin shot back playfully. “Good thing you’re going into journalism, not medicine. I can just imagine your bedside manner now.”
Clark gently clapped a hand on Austin’s shoulder. “And it’s a good thing you’re not pursuing a career in comedy. I’m not sure there’s enough rotten tomatoes out there.”
So cool to read that Clark has another friend besides Pete Ross! Austin is just the kind of person I can see him hanging around with. Anti-K is right, writing easy banter between friends is a challenge, but when the lines click into place they stay in the reader's mind for a lifetime.
He supposed he was somewhat of an anomaly that way. Most people his age would have little to no memory of the event, being only three or four years old at the time. But he could remember every last detail, down to the grainy images on the screen, to the red plaid T-shirt he’d been wearing, to the smell of his mother’s apple pie, fresh out of the oven and cooling on the stovetop. He remembered the rush of adrenaline he’d felt as those first few images from the surface of the moon flickered onto the screen and he’d caught sight of the brave astronauts who’d put their lives on the line to plant the flag into the lunar dust. He remembered how proud he’d felt to witness such a historic event, even if he hadn’t quite understood exactly how big a deal it had been. He even remembered how smitten he’d become with the idea of one day becoming an astronaut himself and going up into space to explore vast, uncharted new worlds. He’d spent so many afternoons having lunch on Mars or Neptune or some made up new planet that his mother had gone to the fabric store and found a shiny, silvery material to make him his very own space suit. His dad had found some old rubber hoses and a sizable empty box. A layer of duct tape and some painted-on designs later, and Clark had had a wonderful oxygen tank to strap to his back, like a backpack.
This paragraph is priceless.
Wow! his brain screamed, as he looked at her.
She was wearing a high school uniform, all maroon and white in color scheme. In white thread, the name St. Mary’s Preparatory School was emblazoned on the upper left corner of her maroon cardigan sweater. A garnet glittered within the setting of her school ring, clearly designating her as part of the senior class. She clutched a notebook to her chest and had a black pen stuck behind her right ear.
But her garb didn’t interest Clark at all. It was the girl herself who had him captivated. She was easily one of the most attractive women Clark had ever seen.
No, not one of, he corrected himself immediately. The most attractive.
Wow!
Stick a fork in him ... he's done!
The description of a very young Lois Lane is memorable - properly wearing her school uniform and class ring, proclaiming to everyone she is about to take on the world or at least her little part of it. As always she has a notebook and pencil at the ready. A true sign of the budding writer and future Kerth winner. This reminds me of your earlier work ... The Lemonade Stand.
“Right here,” Clark said, pointing, this finger just centimeters from the glass. “There’s something here. A star maybe. Or a planet. This faint blueish white dot here. See it?’
The girl got closer and squinted a little at the image. “Yes…” she said hesitantly.
“It’s not in the one from 1970.”
She snapped her attention away from the photo to him. “Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure, yeah,” he replied, pointing to where the dot should have been, but wasn’t. Instead, the space was as inky black as the rest of the void of the universe surrounding the other celestial bodies that the colored points of light represented.
The girl checked where Clark was pointing. “You’re right,” she said at length. “It’s not there. Some kind of mistake in the first picture?” She quickly checked the images from 1976 and 1981. But the dot didn’t appear in any of the other photos. “It isn’t in the others,” she announced after a moment.
“I know,” Clark said with a slight nod.
How heartrending. That dark space is where Krypton
was.
Clark's thoughts in italics give us the perfect view into his mind. Love it!
“I wonder,” the girl said, her voice trailing off as she thought. She whirled around, searching the exhibit, then grinned as she saw whatever it was she was looking for. “Come on!” she said, brazenly reaching over and grabbing Clark’s hand, dragging him away from the images they’d been discussing.
The shape of things to come! LOL!
“Excuse me!” She used her free hand to wave at a man in a white lab coat.
Clark felt his heart clench reflexively in fear. He wanted nothing to do with a scientist at that moment. But his companion was moving with all the speed and force of a freight train, and he felt almost helpless as he allowed himself to be dragged along. And maybe, just maybe, he admitted to himself, he was a little curious to see what she was planning.
“Yes, young lady?” the man said as she brought them both to a halt in front of the older man.
Clark looked at the man’s name tag.
Dr. Bernard Klein.
Here we meet with my favorite scientist in the FoLC universe! Bernie!
Was it love at first sight? he often wondered to himself, late at night as he reclined on his bed, his hands beneath his head, his mind drifting from his studies and football plays he’d memorized during the day and inevitably veering back to that fateful afternoon.
Doesn’t matter, he would immediately remind himself. Chances are, I’ll never see her again, even if we both do wind up becoming reporters. Face it, Clark, there’s no future with Lois.
Hmmm, yes it was love at first sight. Why else would Clark have a difficult time committing to anyone else? As for having no future with her? Only time will tell.
Thanks DC. I will be voting for this story at Kerth time.
