ShatteredLegacy
A novel by
Steven W. Eden
Superman and all related characters are the copyrighted property of DC Comics
4
Journal of Clark Kent
January 8, 1995
Final semester of college has begun and with it, I begin this journal that Ma and Pa gave me for Christmas. Metropolis University is a long way from Smallville, Kansas, but it is closer to the city I hope to call my home some day. It has been a tough go to get through school, but the work should soon pay off. Prof. Lewis says my writing has improved much since I changed my major to journalism and he sees a great chance for me to succeed in the field. He says he has a friend at the Metropolis Daily Planet named Perry White who can probably get me an internship there. I hope he's been there lomg enough to have some pull. That would be really swell to work there.
"...'really swell'? Did people really talk like that back then?"
"Quiet, Noel. Let's read some more."
"Okay, Mom, sure. That'd be really...'swell'."
It was great being home for the holidays. I just wish things were going a little better for the farm. Last year's crop was not as good as expected and it has been harder to get through from season to season in recent years. I asked Pa if I should quit school and help full time on the farm. He would not hear of it. Said that I had a "great destiny" to fullfill and although he loved having me home, he knew I would not find it there. Sometimes I think they see more in me than there really is. I know I can do some things other folks can't, but can I really make a difference in the long run? After all, I'm still just one guy! And I sure don't know all the answers. Heck, I don't even know all the questions! Anyway, classes tomorrow bright and early - and I get assigned my beat with the college newspaper. Hope it's more interesting than last semester. Accounting may be a popular major, but the department leaves a little to be desired when it it comes to news material.
Jan. 9. 1995
Okay, so accounting doesn't seem so bad now! I was assigned my beat today - geology. I don't know if I can write about rocks and make them seem interesting or not. It occurs to me now, though, that the geology staff may be able to tell me something about the green crystal that Ma and Pa keep in the barn. I know it's supposed to be kept secret, but I can't help but wonder what it really is? And why do the meteor fragments in Smallville Museum make me feel so weak and sick? If I make some friends in the department later in the term, maybe I will take a chance, although Pa would never let me get the crystal past the barn door. Sometimes I think he's the one with x-ray eyes! Ha-ha! But it would be nice to get some information about it. Some nights when I'm home. I could swear it is calling to me to come and take it from it's hiding place. I guess it's just my imagination and my desire to know more about why I was found the way I was as a baby. But I have to admit, the urge to go to it is stronger each time I go back home. If it is my imagination, then maybe I need to just get it over with -- tell Pa I need to get it off my mind and take it out of the hiding place. I bet nothing would happen, then I could put it back where it belongs and be done with it. Then we'd all get a good night's sleep for a change.
Jan.17
Met a girl today. Her name is Lori Lemaris. We have two classes together, but I wish we had more. She is so very different and yet I feel very comfortable around her. I''d like to get to know her better and I did ask her if she would like to go to dinner sometime. She turned me down, but politely. Said she had to study. I think she might have thought my interest in her was based on pity for her situation. She is wheelchair bound, but that has nothing to do with anything except that her wheelchair was the cause of our initial meeting.
While I was strolling across the campus grounds, I happened to look up towards a rather steep hill. Just then, this wheelchair with Lori inside came barreling over the hill. She evidently had lost her brakes and the wheels were spinning too fast to touch with her hands. I had to do something, but with so many people in sight, I had to be careful what I could try. A thought came to me to use heat vision to melt the tires on the wheels to slow it down, but stupid me! I melted them too quickly and the chair stopped suddenly, throwing Lori into the air. Fortunately, she came straight at me and I was able to catch her, but I managed to look pretty clumsy doing it - really not too hard to act out for me. Anyway, we started talking as I placed her back in her wheelchair and we found out about our common classes. Then she noticed the melted tires. I couldn't think of an explanation that would protect my secret, but she let me off the hook. Said something about how the wheels must have spun so fast that the friction caused the heat. I just nodded and said "I suppose so," and that was the end of that.
I just wish she were a little more interested in me. I love to listen to Lori talk with that accent that I can't quite place. I asked her where she hailed from and I thought she said Atlanta, but she definitely doesn't sound southern. She sure is a wiz in ancient history class, though. She seems to know more about ancient civilizations than the prof does. In fact, she had him asking her questions by the end of class. She is double majoring in oceanography and geology and that's where we met again - in my geology class. Yep, I changed an elective to take it - I guess rocks were more interesting to me than I thought they would be. Besides, it's a little easier to cover my beat if I understand what it is all about. Anyway, the instructor of our lab paired us up as partners. I hope to see more of her as school progresses if she'll let me.
Feb. 4
Things have certainly taken a positive turn with Lori. She finally agreed to go out with me. Went to a movie at the campus cinema. It was supposed to be a "one-dater" between friends, but we had so much fun together that we've made it a pretty regular thing. My only problem with our relationship is that she insists that she must be back home by 8 o'clock each night, no exceptions, and she says she can have no visitors in her place. I told her the dorms no longer had such tight restrictions, so maybe we could stay out longer? To my surprise, she told me she didn't live in the dorm, but in a trailer about 5 miles from campus. She had promised her folks to abide by the tough restrictions and "a promise is a promise." I guess she just an old fashioned girl, but I certainly admire her integrity. Being from a small town and all, my classmates sometimes laugh at me for my values. It's refreshing to know someone who feels the same as I do about these things. I think I'd like her to meet Ma and Pa. I have a feeling they'd see eye to eye on a lot of subjects.
Speaking of my parents, I got a letter from them yesterday. Pa finally did something I thought he'd never do. He sold part of the farm. Now that was a shocker! He says it was just getting to be too much for him and Ma to take care of and with the last crop being so bad and all, he decided it was time to cut back. I telephoned the two of them as soon as I read that and reminded them that I could come home and do all the work in less time than any 20 hands could, but Pa was adamant about me staying in school and reminded again about my "destiny," and "what's done is done." I told him I couldn't see him just sitting around with nothing to do, then he said, "Well, son, I guess you're right about that. But I only sold part of the farm, so there will still be plenty to take care of here, and Allen Jeffers' family is retiring and moving to Florida. I think I just might buy the general store from him." It will be hard for me to imagine my dad as a shopkeeper after all these years working the farm, but I guess variety is the spice of life. I think I should head back home during spring break and just what's what! Hey, maybe Lori would like to go with me!