12

March 3

It's been about a week since I returned from Smallville. The incident in the barn seems like a dream now, but I know it was real. I continue to retain the knowledge that was revealed to me by the crystal and it just feels right! I have learned my ancestry and my birth parents' names - Jor-El and Lara. I am from a planet that apparently no longer exists called Krypton. My father deduced its imminent doom and built a vessel that sent me here to safety. My parents and everything else on Krypton perished in a great explosion.

Hmmm, thought Jim, I wonder what Jor-El was investigating that tipped him off about the planet exploding?

Krypton was a larger, denser planet than Earth. That, with my denser atomic structure, and strange effects on me by the radiation of the yellow sun of this solar system has given me virtually unlimited strength and special powers far beyond those of ordinary Earth men and women. These powers have revealed themselves to me at various moments during my teen-age years, sometimes not so conveniently. But thanks to the infinite patience of my adoptive parents, I have managed to harness them. And thanks to their vast wisdom and guidance, I know now how I must use them!

Yeah, okay! This is stuff everyone on Earth knows about by now. I wonder if there's anything more I can use to satisfy Mr. Weisinger and get my grades up?

March 5

The visit home was wonderful and I was happy to see Ma and Pa and my friends once more, but that being said, it's great to see Lori again. Every time we are together it is almost like she knows what I am thinking - How's that for compatibility ! Her oceanography class is sponsoring a fieldtrip to the Metropolis Ark this afternoon and she invited me along. I can't wait to be with her. In fact, I can't see myself going through life without her ! I am going to ask her to marry me - tonight !

8:05 P.M.

I didn't get to pop the question ! Things were just a little too crazy to ask her, no thanks to some trouble on our field trip. The Ark is a floating aquarium moored near the dam in Metropolis Bay that houses some pretty unusual sea life. While we were looking at some of the exhibits, a boiler blew up and tore a hole through the hull of the boat. If Pete were here, he'd say it was a "hull" of an explosion ! Ha ! The blast nearly tore the Ark in half and quite a few students went into the bay - including Lori ! Several species of ocean life, both dangerous and rare were also emptied into the water. I managed to use my abilities to help get the other students to safety, but I could not find Lori right away.

Then, as I dove further below, I saw her underwater surrounded by several lamprey eels. She should have been frantic for air by this time, or at the very least, afraid of the eels, but she was very calm as if she were right at home, hosting a party for a few of her more slithery friends. I could swear she looked like she was talking to the lampreys...and they understood her ! As I approached this "tea party", the group swam away instead of attacking her. Moments later, Lori and I surfaced and when I asked her how she avoided being hurt by her "friends" , she said that they must seen me and were frightened away.

After seeing to Lori's and the other students' safety, I secretly rounded up the escaped sea life and saw to it that they were back in captivity and posed no danger to others. By the time I was done, it was almost 7:30 and Lori was back in her trailer. I tried to visit with her, but although she seemed to be happy to see me, she would not let me in.

We agreed to have an early dinner tomorrow night. I hope to ask her to be my wife then !

March 6

Bad news ! Lori says that her parents need her and she must return to her home country tomorrow. I begged her to let me come with her... as her husband. But almost before I got the words out, she turned me down saying. "Our two worlds are too different. It would never work out." But how different could her world possibly be ? I can't help but think back to the incident at the Ark and more questions about her behavior and that of the lampreys pop up. I think I may know the answer, but the only thing that makes sense is just too fantastic to believe. There's only one thing to do. I must go to her trailer tonight and talk to her despite her curfew.

March 7 1:18A.M,

Lori did not answer her door when I reached her trailer. I was worried that she might be hurt and I used my X-ray vision to look inside. I didn't find her, but I did see something unusual - a very large water tank - big enough for a person to submerge completely - filled with salt water. I was certain of the truth now and understood why Lori would not - could not - marry me.

I began to return to my dorm, when I picked up sounds of rushing water with my super-hearing. Apparently, the explosion yesterday did more damage than just to the Ark. The dam had weakened and had just collapsed ! Many houses were already flooded and people needed help ! I decided that this was as good a time as any to wear the costume Ma made for me and to reveal my existence as Superman ! In a split-second, I was in uniform and on my way to the scene.

Who did I find there but Lori, sans wheelchair, in the water doing all she could do to help people get to safety. I now knew before I reached her what her secret was and why this scenario made perfect sense. She no longer wore the long dress or blanket over her lower body and one look at her confirmed my suspicions. Lori Lemaris was a mermaid ! It explained her comfort in the bay with the sea life, the tank of salt water, everything ! She always seemed to now what I was thinking because she did know what I was thinking ! She is telepathic, which is the way she communicates with others like her underwater.

We both got down to the business of saving lives and afterward, we talked - for the first time openly and honestly. It was gratifying to know that she actually felt as deeply for me as I did for her, but it saddened me to know how difficult it was for her to deal with it. Evidently, she had come to the decision to break off our affair while I was in Smallville. It had caused her to endure a lot of tears, but it was the right thing to do.

I knew it was the right thing to do, too. Lori was correct. She could no more live in my world than I could live in hers. We held hands, embraced, and one last time - tenderly kissed. No words were exchanged as we parted and she floated slowly away with the current. Her eyes glistened with moisture that came from no ocean, no bay, only her heart. Then she disappeared into the sea and was gone.

I continued to look out toward the sea for a long while and then I too wept, for "the one that got away."

March 10

It appears that I have no worry about my secret. It seems that nobody wanted to admit to even seeing a "mermaid" and a "flying man" much less being rescued by them. Maybe someday I will see Lori again - perhaps even get to meet some of her people. It's hard to believe that anyone could live in the ocean and communicate - even command - the sea life there. Someone like that would be a great ally to have down the road - Whoops! - down the waterway ! Ha!

I will miss her though. Although it could never have worked out. I know I will never forget Lori.

At this, Jim could read no further and he was adrift on an ocean of dreams for the night.