(4): The Illiustrated Reporter: Juior Sleuth

There times when the Kent farm is the greatest place to get away from the world. There are endless amounts of places to go and hide depending on your tolerance to the smell of cows and stalls that are never far enough away from you. But then are times when you wish you just run away from it. However, the realization of other places that were once empty now full of bustling children or teenagers looking for adventure were no longer opitions. This was very much the case now.

December was never Jonathan's favorite month of the year --- aside from Christmas there was not much to look forward to besides the occasional stray snow balls that hit him in and out of the house. Clark had made himself a new friend. She recently moved to Smallville from Metropolis and was attending Junior High school with his son. Chloe Sullivan was her name. She was spry little blonde teenager, with spiky ends to her hair that stood off in every witch direction, pale skin a pudgy sort of nose, she was short compared to Pete and Clark, and had the cutest set of brown eyes he had ever seen on a blonde.

Clark had told him after her visit to their farm Chloe had kissed him stating that she said, "I know you've been thinking about the entire time, so I thought we'd just get that out of the way." Jonathan was for lack of a better word, in shock but didn't reprimand his son, for he had been in a situation much like the one he described (only there wasn't any kissing). She pretty much kept Clark occupied so that left him out of any thing conversation wise. So instead of staying the warm comfort of his house with Martha who was knitting her little fingers away. A bit too distracted to speak to him, Jonathan laid flat on the ground in a down barn jacket equipped with gloves on his hands, a scarf around his neck, snow boots and his snow hat. He blinked occasionally as he stared into the gray skies above him. Snow flakes fell upon his eyebrows and eyelashes. He could feel himself falling asleep.

However, this was never achieved, the sound of someone stomping through the snow toward him brought him back to the land of the living. He waited until they stopped to open his eyes. He was surprised to say the least to find Chloe Sullivan standing above him in her blue jacket with hello-kitty characters all over it, her head was covered with a Gap snow cap that covered her red ears. "You know you could can catch a cold like that? I did it once and was sick for half a month," She said kneeling down. Jonathan pushed himself up off the ground into a sitting position. "Is that so?" He replied dryly. Chloe nodded. "I'll try to keep that in mind, okay?" Chloe nodded fervently then paused. "Why are you out here Mr. Kent?" Chloe asked cocking her head to the side. Jonathan shrugged rubbing his eyes with his hand. "Why aren't you playing with Clark?" Jonathan retorted, grinning.

Chloe turned her head toward the house for a moment then said, "He said he had to go to the bathroom. He drank too much orange juice," Jonathan let out a short laugh pulling himself into a standing position, Chloe's mouth was slightly gape in awe at the man's height. She stared at him just as her cap fell over her eyes, Jonathan shook his head in amusement. "How tall are you?" She asked pushing her hat back up on her forehead. Jonathan pondered for a moment, his foot tapped against the snowy ground as he tried to remember his height exactly. "Uhh - 6'4', I think," He replied. Chloe's eyes widened at the estimate and she stood a little closer to him placing her hand between his part of his upper body and her head.

"Oh, wow, I'm not even there yet. Your are tall," She said, with a nod of her head. "Guess what?" Jonathan suppressed an exasperated sigh as he readied himself for more talking. "What?" He asked. "The school said they might give me the job on their newspaper and when I grow up I'm gonna be the greatest reporter in the entire world," Chloe stated proudly. Jonathan's eyebrows raised in forced amazement although he cracked a genuine smile. "That's great Chloe," He said, stretching his limbs. Seven minutes didn't even pastbefore Chloe started talking again. "Mr. Kent, If you weren't a farmer or married with a kid what would you be?" She asked quickly. Jonathan's shoulder's slumped in exasperation this time, Chloe just grinned. "Do you always ask this many questions?" Jonathan grumbled.

Chloe pondered for a bit then said, "Nope. Only when the people I think are worth questioning," Chloe replied honestly. Jonathan hung his head down with a groan. This was also a great way for her to kill time while she waited for Clark --- who was taking a considerably long time to use the toilet --- to return from his trip. Jonathan was the perfect person to practice her potential reporter skills on. He wasn't very talkative around her and she barely knew him. Just as he opened his mouth to respond the sound of the front door opening caught his attention. Clark came stumbling out of the house zipping his jacket up, halfway into his shoes. Saving grace! Jonathan thought. He was unaware that he had expressed his relief through body language. When Jonathan looked down at Chloe he found her mock-glowering at him as Clark approached her. "Hi Chloe, sorry I was so long. Mom needed help with the oven door; it was stuck so I opened it up for her," Clark breathed. He demonstrated by flexing his muscles which were unnoticable at the time. Chloe nodded her head dismissing the excuse. "That's fine, let's go finish building our snowman," She said taking his hand.

Clark turned red in an instant as she lead him off towards their half-built snowman. Jonathan watched them walking off away from him just as something clicked in his mind. "Chloe!" He called. The two tweens stopped in their tracks turning to their attention to the blonde across from them. "If I wasn't a farmer or married with a kid . . . . I guess I would be a troubleshooter," He stated halfheartedly with a shrug. It was a sper of the moment thought; danger was not something Jonathan went looking for and was more than happy with his current occupation.

Chloe's brown eyes shifted to the ground below her then back up at Jonathan. She squinted her eyes raising her hands up. Creating a window with her fingers, she captured the upperbody of the older Kent --- imagining him in a pair of relaxed cargo pants, a long sleeved shirt underneath a dark blue plaid shirt with its sleeves rolled up halfway, a messenger bag slung over his right arm and underneath his left one. And lastly a younger face with a wacky short haired hair cut, holding several bars of Hershey chocolate. "Hmm. You'd make a pretty good troubleshooter," She said finally before marching off. Clark followed after her. Jonathan begged to differ, although it was a nice adventurous thought that kept his mind of the sogginess of the back of his pants.

(FIN)