Part One 2 Three Years Later – September 1971
"Clark – are you ready for school? Today's your first day of kindergarten. You don't want to be late on your first day."
Out of nowhere, little Clark appeared in the kitchen. "I'm right here, Mommy. I'm ready."
"Honey, you can't do that when you go to school! The other kids will tell their folks how fast you are. Before you know it, the authorities will take you away from us and they'll be dissecting you like a frog!"
"I know, Mommy. You tell me that *every* day. I'll be good, I promise. I'll beat you to the car. Wanna race?"
"Now you stop that, Clark Jonathan Kent! Did you hear a word I just said?"
Martha smiled. Every since Clark turned 4, he had developed the ability to move faster than the eye could see. And he got stronger every day. One day when Jonathan was trying to jack up the truck to fix a flat tire, he was stunned to look up and see Clark holding up the end of the truck by the bumper all by himself. Shortly after that, his speed developed. That left no doubt in her and Jonathan's mind that Clark was not of this earth.
Reflecting back to the best day of her life, May 17, 1968, when she had become a mother, Martha recalled Jonathan's attempt to cover up any evidence of Clark's arrival in the space vessel that he had quickly sequestered to the farm's storm shed. At the crack of dawn, the morning after Clark landed, Jonathan had ridden one of their horses back to Schuster's field. He didn't want his truck spotted in the area. When he came upon the crater where they had found Clark, which was approximately twenty feet in circumference, he carefully inspected it for lingering evidence, finding only some fairly small, shiny green rocks buried in the dirt. He placed as many stones as he could manage in his overalls pocket; then he backfilled the depression left by the ship with brush and broken corn husks. There was also a flattened area visible where the pickup truck towed the little ship through the corn field. The best he could do was to disguise the entrance to the path from the road. He propped up the surrounding corn husks and laid brush around it.
In addition, Jonathan noted that there was some evidence that something heavy had been dragged along the dirt road. The tracks would have lead directly to the Kent farm! Therefore, on the way home, he had his horse deliberately gallop right over the marks left by the space ship, stirring up the dirt so that exactly *what* had left the "skid marks" could not be determined.
Again, Jonathan had acted in the nick of time, because several official-looking federal vehicles stormed the area right after he returned home. He placed the shiny green rocks down in the storm shed right inside the tiny ship, re-covered it with the tarp and hay, and kept his fingers crossed that he had foiled the authorities. Some day, when Clark was a teenager, he would show him the ship and explain to him that he probably wasn't of this earth. Perhaps he would be happy to know that the shiny green crystals were probably souvenirs of wherever he came from!
The next day, the Smallville Press had reported that Sheriff Trask and Deputy Sheriff Ross had investigated reported sightings of UFO's and shooting stars on the evening on May 17. Sheriff Trask was quoted as saying:
We inspected the area that evening, and went back again during the daylight. We saw nothing out of the ordinary. Deputy Ross and I also interviewed several residents in the area, included the Kents, the Irigs, and the Langs. No one could verify seeing anything unusual. The caller that reported the sighting refused to give his name. We have therefore made the decision to consider the incident a prank call. However, if anyone does want to come forward with other information, we would be glad to investigate further.Martha and Jonathan were both relieved that the case had been closed; however, mysteriously enough, shortly after Clark had dropped out of the sky and into their lives, Sheriff Trask had been offered a government job and soon relocated to the Washington, D.C. area. Jonathan was certain he was working on Project Blue Book, investigating the possibility of alien life on earth. He remained very paranoid that Trask would come back some day to investigate the strange circumstances under which Clark had arrived on earth.
Clark's joyful, childish scream broke Martha's reverie. He was sitting in the front seat of the pick-up truck waiting for her.
"Mommy! Let's go! I'm ready!"
Martha walked out to the pick-up truck, carrying his lunch box filled with snacks, sandwiches, and other treats. She was going to give Clark a ride to the school bus stop which was about 2 miles away. She would wait with him until the bus picked him up. Her anxiety was welling up inside her chest, praying that Clark wouldn't inadvertently display his abilities to any of the kids at school. She and Jonathan had spent nearly a year giving him daily lectures about "normal" behavior. Luckily, he was extremely bright and learned to speak English rapidly. He hadn't spoken his "native tongue", whatever it was, recently. They had been worried about that as well. It was so precise a language that no one would have taken it for baby talk. With the threat of communism so prevalent, the last thing they needed was for someone to think he was Russian.
Martha pulled up to the bus stop and there were two other children there, also accompanied by their guardians.
Gertrude Ross, grandmother of little Pete Ross and mother of the town sheriff, T. J. Ross (as he had filled the post vacated by Sheriff Trask), and Ethel Lang, aunt of little Lana Lang, waved as Martha parked the truck. Clark opened the door and jumped to the ground, greeting Lana and Pete in his own inimitable fashion.
"Hi! I'm Clark Jonathan Kent! Who are you?"
Lana, a freckled-face, adorable girl with long flaming red wavy hair looked up at Clark and said, "My name is Lana, and this," she said, pointing over at Pete, "is my next-door neighbor. His name is Peter."
Pete was also freckled, but he was a strawberry blonde. "Hi," said Pete simply.
Out of the blue, Clark asked Lana, "Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend or something?"
The three women looked at each other and burst out laughing. Lana looked mad and Pete looked embarrassed.
Lana screamed, "No way! I hate boys!" while Pete stood there silently, scowling. He never did answer the question.
Martha would look back on that day and swear that Pete looked upset to have competition for Lana's attention. At the time, she figured she just had a wild imagination – after all, they were only five – boys didn't like girls at that age, did they?
The adults made small talk about recipes and the upcoming winter, while the three kids ran around the bus stop. Martha could see that Clark was really trying to hold back and not strut his stuff. She took a deep breath, unbelievably relieved to see that their constant nagging had paid off.
When the bus pulled up, already full of screaming children, Martha kissed Clark goodbye and whispered, "Remember what Mommy and Daddy told you. You're doing good, Clark. Make your Mommy proud of you in school today."
Clark gave her a big hug – wow, he was strong – and winked at her as he climbed the stairs to enter the bus. "Bye Mommy. See you later – I'll miss you."
Martha cried all the way back to the house. Her precious son was growing up and going to school. Soon, he'd be going to college some place far, far away.
~~~~~
June 1973
Martha waited at the bus stop for her approximately 7 year old son who had just finished up the first grade. It was the last day of school and she was looking forward to spending the summer with her lovable boy. He had been doing fantastic in school, and the teacher had even suggested that he skip the second grade, because his reading skills were far superior to anyone else in his class. She and Jonathan had considered it, but felt that for social skills and other reasons, he should just progress normally in school. His best friends were little Peter Ross and Lana Lang, and they didn't want to alienate Clark from them by pushing him up a grade. The three of them were pretty inseparable!
~~~~~
Smallville High School – same time
A curly red-haired fifteen year old with thick black-framed glasses sat in the guidance office of Edward Smithson to determine what courses he would be taking next year, when he would be going into the eleventh grade.
"Alexander, your grades this past year were outstanding. If you continue along this path, you'll be valedictorian and will have your choice of colleges when you graduate high school," Edward Smithson informed him.
"Thank you, Mr. Smithson, I appreciate it. I did work hard this year. My parents want me to transfer to high school in Metropolis, but I like it here in Smallville. Thank God my Aunt Lena lives here; moving in with her was the best thing I ever did."
"You're very lucky. She's a wonderful woman and since she doesn't have children of her own, she really gives you quality time. I suppose your parents are very busy with all of the Luthor Foundation's philanthropic activities."
"Yes, that's what they tell me. All I know is - living in some high-rise apartment in Metropolis is not for me. It's very homey here in Smallville; the people are nice; they're genuine, not phonies like the people my parents deal with."
"So, Alexander, what would you like to do when you graduate from high school? You excel in the math and science fields."
"I think I would like to be a research scientist; perhaps I could work with NASA; I would like to see man explore the stars. We landed on the moon what – 4 years ago? We have a lot to learn about the universe."
"That's fantastic, Alexander. I know you'll succeed at anything you put your mind to."
"Mr. Smithson? Could you do me a favor?"
"Of course."
"Please – call me Lex."
~~~~~
TBC -
