The only characters I own mentioned in this chapter are Paul, his uncle, and Mrs. Wingate. I do not do this for money, so please read and be entertained for free. :)

The snowstorm had come and gone. It left a layer of snow up to a tall man's knees. Clark knew, because he had stood in it.

He was nearly as tall as pa, who was known for being tall. Clark had heard others saying he himself might get even taller. He wasn't sure if he wanted that. He'd seen his pa have to duck to get into some places.

Since they'd stocked up and school had been canceled, they hadn't bothered digging out their long driveway. Clark had dug paths to the barn and chicken house, though. Rex was in the house. It was cold and a recent Vet visit had confirmed his pet had nothing "catching." He still took a pill daily; the bottle of which Clark should pay off with his new job soon after getting back to it. Thankfully they had a good supply of those too.

If Clark, kept his job after paying the Vet bill he could be add to the fund Mrs. Wingate had started for him to go to college. But how would he take care of Rex and go to college? Neither of his folks seemed really fond of Rex. They weren't unfriendly to him either. Ma had always said she was a cat person, often melting at the sight of any barn kitten and weeping upon finding the bodies of any of the barn cats that fell into deadly misfortune. Pa, well, Pa was practical. He's grown up with livestock all his life and believed in being neither cruel nor sentimental about anything non-human … well … except for him, Clark guessed …

Clark's breath misted above him as he gave a long slow exhale. Cold nights were great for stargazing. Even if he felt weaker than he did in summer that didn't mean he felt "weak" or the cold even on a dark moonless night when it was below freezing like this. So, he was laying out on the roof beyond his bedroom window gazing at the stars listening to his folks, his dog's, and the livestock's breathing in the still night. He could hear even the muted slight sounds of the mice and barn cats curled in various spots to wait out the cold till the sun rose.

Even the mice which were a nuisance, and the reason pa tolerated the barn cats his ma sympathized with … had something in common with his folks, their neighbors, and all mankind he didn't. He supposed there was no real reason to complain about being able to stand the cold, to be able to see through things, to fly … His parents had really thought him joking when he'd told them that one … not unlike when he first divulged to them, he was an alien (extraterrestrial more precisely.)

I wonder … Clark kept staring up at the stars. Which one of them … are any of them … the sun the planet I'm from travels around? Can I ever know?

He glanced back down toward the snow-covered fields and distant homes of the humans who still considered him one of their own, who didn't know how different he was ... Maybe I don't wanna know … I'm … I'm a citizen of Smallville. I'm counted in the census, I grew up here, I'm gonna get my diploma from Smallville High. I'm practically like everyone else around here. Aren't I?

A little voice told him he was going to be leaving soon for college and probably a job after that. Leave? I'd rather just feel fully accepted here … without telling lies … or, more precisely, hiding the truth from everyone cept my folks.

The sound of a door opening and closing in the distance made him turn his head. Paul? Clark watched the teen his age walk to the other side of his and his uncle's house and … light a cigarette. Clark frowned. Did his uncle know? Maybe not considering Paul was going outside the house and walking around to the side opposite of the one his uncle slept in. If Clark told anyone including Paul's uncle, would they want to know how he knew?

Clark blew out a frustrated breath and looked back up at the stars. He himself proved intelligent life could be found out among them, yet they still seemed far less fraught with moral dilemmas than the planet he viewed them from.

Minutes passed thus before another sound made him sit up: a thud. Clark glanced the same direction he had before and used his x-ray vision. Paul lay on the sidewalk near his house not moving.

Clark didn't even remember flying to the other teens side. He found himself shaking Paul's arm and calling his name before using his x-ray vision to look through hair, skin, and muscle. Oh no … on no … on no … there was a crack in the skull, small, but still! There was a crack in Paul's skull!

Then Clark smelled it. He turned around. Not far from Paul's now open and still right hand dead grass and wooden board smoldered! Clark grabbed handfuls of snow and covered the glowing embers. Stupidly, as he thought later, he blew on them like they were his adoption day candles on a cake. In seconds, no more embers, no more smoke, and a thin layer of ice covered everything he'd blown on including his own hands.

Clark stared. He flexed his hands and the ice cracked aways. As he lifted his hands up to his face and continued to stare, the thin layer of cracked ice melted and washed away. He absently rubbed their backs against the front of his blue sweater. His gut reminded his, now more frozen mind, about Paul and his skull fracture. He turned back to the other teen.

What do you think?

God bless

ScribeofHeroes