Chloe let out a huge sigh. How had she been roped into babysitting young Clark and Lois? Lois was showing Clark what all you could do with a string. Clark wasn't catching on to the art. Chloe didn't blame him. She had never gotten the hang of it either. Truth be known, Chloe felt a little jealous and left out. Why couldn't her younger self have come along or why couldn't she have gone with the 'big kids'.
"Claire?" Lois asked.
"What?"
"We're bored."
"Why don't you watch some TV?"
"The cartoons on right now are stupid. There's one about a sponge and the other is about people who fight with cards."
"Why don't you play some video games?"
"We done played them all, but the picture was cool. It almost looked like real life."
"I know and you won't have graphics like that when you get back home."
"Clark and I want to go to the park."
"I can't take you there. Miss Lane and Mr. Kent said we should stay in the house and I agree."
"Pretty please, Claire?"
"Absolutely not."
"Only for a little bit?"
Chloe sighed. Lois would not give up. It wouldn't hurt them to go to the park for just a little while. If big Lois and Clark had a problem with it, she could truthfully say they had told her to do it.
"Okay, I'll take you to the park."
Lois began jumping and dancing around and Clark politely said, "Thank you, Miss Claire."
Chloe smiled. She had forgotten how Lois was at this age. It made her feel like a kid again to see her cousin so young. Luckily, the kids hadn't figured out anything but few people could. This wasn't an everyday occurrence. It was also fun to see Clark so young. She hadn't known him at this age. Going to the park might be kind of fun at that.
sss
Chloe yawned as she sat on the park bench. It was a cool fall day and all the warm colors of fall seemed to blend together. It was making her feel sleepy. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night. Lois and Clark were on the swings and it looked like in an argument. That wasn't unusual. Clark and Lois got in arguments a lot, as children and as adults. For a second, she wondered if they were showing affection for each other. It was common knowledge that in elementary school, the boy and girl who fought were the ones who liked each other. How would that apply to older Lois and Clark? Maybe they had a childlike romance that was still waiting to blossom into a more mature one. Maybe she was sleepier than she thought. Hadn't Clark always said that he was in love with Lana since he was 6? Young and old Clark only had eyes for Lana. She wished she could hear their conversation. It would probably prove to be interesting. She watched the swings go back and forth, back and forth. First Lois then Clark. Lois then Clark. Chloe was fighting to stay awake.
"Have you ever fed the ducks?" Lois asked Clark.
"Lots of times."
"My dad took me and my sister to feed them one time, and there was also some geese. You know how people always go chasing the ducks? I told my sister she should try chasing a goose, and the goose started chasing her and trying to bite her. I'm not lying."
"What happened?"
"I got in trouble, and we aren't allowed to feed the ducks anymore. I didn't know what was going to happen. Do you have a girlfriend?"
"Why would you ask that?"
"No reason. Just curious."
"I do like this one girl. Her name's Lana."
"How old is she?"
"She's in the 2nd grade like me."
"Are you crazy?"
"What?"
"You haven't kissed her, have you?"
"No. Why?"
"2nd graders are so innocent. You'll get her pregnant and I don't think you're ready for a baby yet. I knew this one girl. Her name was Susan and she was still in school and she got pregnant."
"I thought you had to be married to have babies," Clark said with his mouth wide open.
"That's what I thought until I met Susan. You should have seen how mad her parents were. Then there was this one girl who was my age and she kissed this boy at recess. Right after that she left school. The teacher said she moved to Connecticut, but I think she had a baby. If you're going to like somebody, it's got to be an adult because they won't kiss you, and they don't have cooties like little boys."
"Boys don't have cooties. If anybody has cooties, it's girls. I don't know any grown-up girls that I like."
"What about Claire? She's nice."
"I like Claire but not like that."
"My boyfriend right now is Mr. Kent. Is he your kin by the way? He's got your last name and is living in your house."
"No. Now that I think about it, I do kind of like Miss Lane."
"Miss Lane?"
"Yes. She's funny and pretty."
"Whatever."
"I bet Mr. Kent doesn't even know he's your boyfriend."
"Shut up. Look! Claire's asleep."
"So?"
"We can leave the playground and go exploring the rest of the park."
"Miss Claire wouldn't like that or Miss Lane and Mr. Kent."
"I don't care what they like," she said, jumping off her swing.
Clark put his feet on the ground and skidded to a stop and followed. "Wait for me!" he called to Lois. He didn't want Lois to go off by herself. There was a newspaper under the bench. He covered Miss Claire with it, so she would stay warm and then ran to catch up with Lois.
They wandered into the parking lot.
"Cool! That car is beautiful and expensive, I bet!" Lois said excitedly and ran to look at it. She placed her hands on the gleaming red paint.
"We shouldn't touch people's cars."
"They don't care. We're just little kids. Oh wow!" she said, as she pulled the handle, "they didn't lock it." She sat down on the leather seat.
"You can't drive," Clark said.
"Actually, my dad lets me drive tanks."
"You're making that up. Get out."
"I'm not going to drive it." She pushed the radio button, and it came on. "This car is so awesome. You don't even have to have it on to play music. Listen how good it plays. It must have something to do with the green glow it puts out. I've never seen a radio like this!"
Clark was keeled over in pain. "I feel funny. I've never felt like this. I think I'm sick."
Lois turned off the radio and was getting ready to take him back to Claire, when a man grabbed them by their shirts and threw them in the back seat, knocking them both out. He put the key in the ignition and sped off.