Welcome to “Further On Down The Road.” This is a continuation of the very ALT-WORLD story “The Road Taken,” wherein Clark becomes Superman without Lois’s help, marries his high school sweetheart Lana Lang, meets Lois at the Daily Planet, and soon thereafter becomes a widower quite suddenly and violently. It begins approximately two months after the final events of “The Road Taken” and follows our heroes as they attempt to move past Lana’s death and its effects rippling out through their lives.
Don’t worry, this is actually a “Lois AND Clark” story. Lois and Clark are the most prominent characters you’ll read about. Being dead, Lana gets very little screen time, but she does still have an influence on the characters, so if you just can’t stand Lana in any incarnation except as a manipulative, whiny, controlling witch, don’t read this story.
If you think the sky will fall and the earth will shift under your feet (not in a good way) should Clark and Lois even think about looking at another person with any hint of romance in anyone’s mind, don’t read this story.
If you think that the characters in the series, whether major or minor, absolutely must behave within the narrow confines of their screen personas in order to remain faithful to the premise of the show, don’t read this story.
Having said all that, I hope you give “Further On Down The Road” a shot. It’s a long trip, by far the longest piece I’ve ever written for any reason, but it’s basically finished except for some fine-tuning from my excellent beta readers, so please don’t be concerned about a mid-stream abandonment. Barring a real-life disaster of some sort, that’s not happening.
Speaking of beta readers, let me mention that Lisa (Mrs. Mosley), PrincessAnna, and Tricia W. are without a doubt the best trio of betas I’ve ever been associated with. If you like the way this story flows, if you like the plot and the character interactions, if you like the direction our favorite couple is heading, please direct a major share of the credit to them. Their comments have helped this story more than you might think. In fact, there is one entire chapter later on that grew out of some of the comments they sent back to me.
And if you don’t like the story, please let me know. I have broad shoulders and I can take a lot of punishment before I break down and whimper like a broken-hearted puppy.
There is one chapter where I copied some dialogue from one of the episodes, but I’m sure you’ll all recognize it when you see it. I will identify it when we get to it and give the real writers credit.
Thank you in advance for your feedback. I promise not to start any wars over this story. Life is too short to fight over something we all enjoy. And I don’t expect everyone to love everything I post. There are some things which make perfect sense to me within the context of the total narrative but which may ruffle the feathers of some FOLCs elsewhere. If that happens, please feel free to let me know. I will do my best to respond to everyone’s concerns. But please, remember that this story is not finished until the fat lady catches the bouquet at the end of her aria.
Enough of my prattling! Let us dive in headfirst and hope the water’s deep enough for all of us.
