Chapter Twenty One
"Mrs. Carver?" Clark knocked on the door at the Smallville Nursing Home.
"I was surprised to hear I had a visitor." Cassandra, the old woman who could see the future, said.
Clark smiled. It was good to see her alive and well. The time he had spent with her had been brief, but he remembered her being kind and wise. "Don't suppose you remember me?"
"It's such a lovely day. I can feel the sun shining through my window. Why don't we take a walk outside?"
Clark escorted her out and the two walked on the path nearby the nursing home. The path led to a bridge where Harry Volk, another nursing patient, had fallen in. Meteor rocks had been in the water, causing a temporary fountain of youth effect. Harry went on to try and finish a killing spree from his misguided youth. From his research, Clark discovered Harry drowned in the pond instead. That meant the man who had been his victim was still alive. Right now, Clark could feel no sickness of kryptonite as they walked on the bridge.
"I hope you don't mind being outside. My neighbor is a terrible snoop. Eavesdrops on everyone's conversations. And she'll steal your pudding if you're not careful. I haven't had a visitor in years who wasn't a high school volunteer trying to get community service. Her ear would be glued to my door in a second. Now. Why do you think we've met before?"
"I remember you. At least, I think I do."
"I heard about your accident, Julian. That must have been a horrible thing to go through."
"Not half as bad as waking up and finding you have an entirely new life."
She patted his arm comfortingly. "Well, no, we've never met. I did get some visits from Luthor Corp employees asking if I'd be interested in being part of a study years ago. I turned them down."
"Because you can see the future?"
"What makes you say that?"
"You told me mine once. I was hoping you could maybe do it again." They sat down on a nearby bench. "I'm just confused. A part of me likes this life. Everyone's lives seem to be better. More people are alive and not in Belle Reeve. I wish I could just accept it and move on. But there's a part of me that can't accept this as real. I miss my parents. I miss my friends, Pete and Lana. If there's the smallest chance something happened, I have to find out. But if I could go back to being Clark, maybe that's selfish and I shouldn't."
"Well, then," Cassandra held out her hand, "let's find out."
Clark grabbed her hand. As he remembered, at first nothing happened. Then, there was the faintest trembling and the pond in front of him disappeared.
Clark looked around and found himself in a sunny, beautiful meadow. Bars grew from the ground, encasing him inside. He took a step forward to try and reach the bars, but the bars moved with him, always out of reach. There was laughter, and Clark turned around to see a shadowed figure holding the key. The figure seemed to grow larger and larger until the cage Clark was in was held in the shadows hand. The figure closed his hand, enveloping Clark in darkness.
Clark took in a sharp breath as the vision ended. "What was that?"
"I've never seen anything like it before. Your future seems to be in the hands of someone else."
"How can that be? Aren't we in control of our own destinies?"
"To a point. Our futures are created by our actions; things we do intentionally. But, also by our reactions."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm no philosopher. There may be a better way to describe it. From what I've seen, there's some things that happen to us that we can't control. For instance, doing something as natural as opening your eyes resulting in your optic nerves burned."
"I'm sorry." Clark said, sincerely. He had always felt responsible for the things that happened caused by the meteor shower after finding out he was an alien. "But wouldn't a reaction just become an action?"
"Not your fault." Cassandra again patted his arm. "I'll admit, it's a very thin line. I can only tell you what I see for you and what I've seen for other people. The future is never really set in stone. There are times when what I see is clear. People have determined what choices they will make. Other times, things are a bit clouded; they might change if people decide other actions. Their actions impact the actions others make. People's lives are more connected than we think.
"In your case, I'd say there is someone in your life, or someone who will come into your life who will affect it in a big way. There seems to be a battle going on in that person; they have not yet decided their actions. Therefore, I cannot see your reaction." Cassandra smiled and looked thoughtful. "You saw that too, didn't you?"
"Yes," Clark confessed.
Cassandra hummed to herself. "I enjoyed our visit. Feel free to stop by anytime."
A bit shorter than what I aim for. This idea of Clark speaking with Cassandra just popped into my head last minute. Adding something on the end just felt wrong so that kind of threw off a chapter I had written already. Watching Hourglass again reminded me of how sweet Cassandra was. Too bad we couldn't see more of her. She might be making another appearance in the future. I couldn't find out if Cassandra had been married or not. I'd like to think she was, so I gave her the prefix Mrs.