Prologue
Lois Lane looked out the window of the stagecoach she was riding on at the vast array of nothingness that surrounded her. It was the first time in her entire life she had seen anything outside the streets of Metropolis. She wandered if her stubbornness had finally gotten her in over her head.
Lois took out a pen and did her best to scribble down some notes for her first edition of the Smallville Ledger.
"What is you writin' there pretty lady?" the man across from Lois asked.
Lois smiled politely, though it was nearly impossible to sit opposite the man without throwing up. He smelled of whiskey, his teeth were rotten, and he looked as though he had been wearing the same clothes for his entire adult life.
"I am starting a newspaper in Smallville. I am making notes of things to include in my first editorial."
"Why'd you wanna go and make newspaper in Smallville? You should be usin' your time to do useful things like marryin' and havin' youngins," the man said as he spit a wad of tobacco out the window.
"Ignorant people who think women are good for nothing but making babies and cleaning house, that is why I am starting a newspaper," Lois said between clenched teeth as she scribbled down some notes. In her anger she scribbled so hard she tore through several sheets of paper.
Lois was tired of being told she could not do something because of her sex. She had been running her household from the time she was six years old. Her father had raised her to be independent and self sufficient, that was not to say he was exactly thrilled with the thought of his eldest daughter running off to Smallville to start a paper. He wasn't. He had told her she did not have to marry, but he did not approve of her meddling in other peoples affairs either. In the end, though, he had agreed to buy her the space and materials needed to start her newspaper, in the agreement that if her paper was not successful enough to pay him back in two years she would return to Metropolis and marry a suitable husband.
The man did not speak to Lois again after she told him off. She had found that when she spoke her mind most men shut up rather quickly. They did not appreciate women that spoke out of turn. Lois knew that was the reason there were suitors lined up around the block to court her sister, Lucy, while she had only had a few that lost interest fairly quickly. Lois did not mind though. In her mind men were merely a distraction from her goal of owning her own successful newspaper and writing her first novel.
Clark Kent walked toward the small one room school house on top of Smallville Hill. The sun rose over the school house painting the sky shades of pink, purple and orange. Clark thought it was a sight that would make a magnificent painting for the wall of the school house. He made a mental note to ask Lana Lang to come up to the school one morning and paint the scene for him. Not only would it give him an excuse to spend a few extra minutes with the most beautiful girl in Smallville, but she was without a doubt the most talented painter in the town. Well, technically she was the only person in town that had ever tried to paint, but that still made her the best.
Clark set to work washing the blackboard, sweeping the floor, and preparing his morning lesson plans. Clark had never been as happy as he was when he stood at the front of a classroom teaching a room full of kids. His entire life he had felt like an outcast because of his heritage and his abilities, but when he was able to help a child learn something new he felt important and needed.
The only other time Clark felt as secure as he did in the classroom was when he was on his parents' farm. When he was out on the farm, miles from town, he was free to be himself. He could run faster than the trains in Metropolis and did not have to worry that anyone would see him. Over the past several years Clark had learned to use his powers more efficiently and was able to help people without being seen, but people were becoming suspicious. They started trying to figure out who the quick moving hero was and he was afraid, unless he came up with a disguise of sorts his identity would soon be revealed.
Clark knew that if the people of Smallville discovered his true heritage he would no longer be allowed to teach their children and he would be chased from the town. He was invulnerable to the guns and such that the towns' people would threaten him with, but his parents were not. Clark could not forgive himself if his parents were hurt trying to protect him.