ShatteredLegacy

A novel by

Steven W. Eden

Superman and all related characters are the copyrighted property of DC Comics

6

Phyllis stared at the televised horror, unable to turn away. The tragedy that had befallen Metropolis, Rome, and Paris was displayed before her in life-size, color 3-D images on every channel on the air. She became witness to devastation as she had never known to exist before, her senses shocked at the real-life carnage the victims had been subjected to. Where once there stood mighty monuments to man's architectural skills, she now saw rubble and ruined buildings in every possible state of disrepair. Every so often the corpses of the once robust population could be seen. The news crews tried not to show this side effect of the tremors, but there were just too many bodies to avoid. The anchor of the news bulletin said that "luckily" most of Metropolis was not as damaged as the shots being telecast now, but that the loss of life here and in the other two cities was bound to be in the hundreds of thousands.

Phyllis wept as the shot of the once proud Daily Planet Building, a structure of formerly gigantic proportions, revealed its fate: now leveled to the ground, a mass of broken bricks, torn girders, and dreams torn asunder. The familiar landmark globe, toppled and demolished, now lay in scattered pieces. In Paris, the Eiffel Tower still stood, but no longer completely erect. Its structure, badly weakened and shaken by the quake, creaked and moaned as if it were crying from pain. In Rome, the quake hit a mostly residential neighborhood. The area was littered with wrecked homes and shops and bodies seemingly everywhere.

But Phyllis was also heartened as incredible stories and pictures of courage and compassion began to be told and shown. A young woman saving her mother's life with CPR, a baby sheltered by a man from the building they were in as it crumbled around them, stranger helping stranger at the risk of further injury or perhaps the possibility of death. It gave her strength to see compassion for fellow man so well demonstrated.

For Jimmy and Noel, however, the death and destruction quickly became too much to take and both found other things to distract them from the pestilence. Noel decided to visit her next door neighbor, Sherry Carr, while Jimmy went back to the journal they had been reading before the quakes hit.

Sherry and Noel had been best friends since second grade, enjoying dolls and dress-up, listening together to the latest tunes, and now (unknown to their mothers), trying on make-up and always, always, always talking about boys. Having had her favorite cartoons scrubbed away by the disasters, she sought escape from the horrors of the day and trudged over to her friend's house.

Sherry's mom had tears in her eyes and a telephone in her hand as she answered the door. Noel flustered a bit at this unexpected development. "Uh...Hi, Mrs. Carr," She stuttered, "Is Sherry home?"

"Noel...hi..." Mrs. Carr gasped between sobs, "She's in her room, but she shouldn't..." Sherry's mom stopped short and surveyed her daughter's best friend for a minute and then said, "On second thought, Sweetie, maybe it would be a good idea for you two to play together for awhile. It might take Sherry's mind off..."

Off what? thought Noel. I wonder what's going on here. Mrs. Carr let her in and she went to Sherry's room. Noel knew this house almost as well as her own and she found her way immediately, but Sherry had been crying, too. This was exactly what she did not need - another downer! "Why are you crying? Are you okay?" I wonder if she and her mom had a fight or something.

"It's my dad," replied her best buddy, "He was in Metropolis on business when the earthquake hit, and mom hasn't heard from him that he's safe or not. She's been trying his personal phone and the phone number to the office he's at, but no one is answering. She says she thinks he's right in the middle of it all, but he hasn't called us and Mom's scared and I'm scared, too!"

Noel was dismayed. She had hoped to escape from the dark cloud of despair generated by the news of the quakes. Instead she had found yet more grief. But she couldn't leave her friend in such shape, now, not with such a burden as this. "Well, maybe he just can't get a phone call through right now. I heard on TV that a lot of people can't communicate with others because of communi... communi...because of damage to the phones and stuff. Your dad is probably okay and he'll let you guys know as soon as he can."

Sherry didn't seem too convinced, but it was a straw she could grasp for the moment, so she grabbed it with both hands and held on as tightly as possible. "Yeah...that's got to be it! I'll bet the phone company can't get anyone's message through right now...or...or...maybe he's too busy helping some of the other people that are hurt or...trapped...or...something..." Sherry sniffled a bit and took a brave stance. Looking straight at Noel, she added, "My Daddy's brave! If anybody there needs it, I know he'd help!"

Noel hugged her best friend and replied, "I know he would, too! Just like I'll always be there to help my friend!"

"Thanks, Noe," Sherry said as she pulled back and looked at her buddy with gratitude and appreciation, then suddenly added, "So what's your cute big brother doing right now, anyway?"

What Jimmy was doing was escaping the horrors of the day in his own way. The journal he had found intrigued him and he was anxious to continue reading it. His enthusiasm, by the way, came as a surprise to him as well. Just this morning, he disliked even admitting his relationship to his ancestor, and now he couldn't get enough information about him. Sheesh! he thought, I guess it's amazing what a green-glowing, talking crystal will do for you!

With the book in hand, Jimmy picked up where his mother had left off...