Thank you Nancy (anonpip) for reading through this for me =)
This is a pseudo-prequel to a longer story I'm writing... it relates to that time line but is meant to stand on its own... I'm also still looking for one other person to beta the longer story... anyway I hope a few people enjoy...
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Coin Toss
A man slowly stumbles away from a traffic accident. His face is pale and drawn.
The whispers surround him.
“Wasn’t he in the street?”
“The car hit him head on...”
“He’s still on his feet?”
Some speak in English, others in Bahasa Melayu... there are also a few tourists speaking in a variety of European languages. But the consensus is clear: he should be dead... or at least seriously injured.
He makes his way into an alleyway and quickly shoots into the air, hovering above the island that has been his home for longer than almost anywhere else besides a tiny town in Kansas and the university campus where he had studied journalism.
There had been no photos... he was almost sure... but people would remember his face... he could be thankful he hadn't worn glasses here. He sighs, saddened by this turn of events.
He had loved this island... its diversity in both human culture and wildlife...
But now... his time here was done.
Landing behind his apartment, he goes in and packs at a frantic pace. His job was freelance... though the local editor had offered him a staff position... he hadn’t wanted to take the chance... and he had been right not to...
His things packed in a single suitcase he leaves a note for the landlord... that an emergency came up and he had to leave...
He again takes to the air... stopping on a small deserted island in the middle of the Pacific. He falls to his knees and buries his head in his hands.
He couldn’t believe it...
He had been forced to leave other places because he had saved a life and been seen...
But this had been different...
He hadn’t been saving someone...
He had just been crossing the street...
If only that driver hadn’t...
He shakes his head... such thoughts weren’t helpful.
He pulls out a coin with shaking hands.
It was a weighted coin... one he had been given as a joke...
It was meant to always land heads up.
He looks at the coin, “Ok... here we go again... I have to leave Borneo... tails... I go to Metropolis... heads I go to...” he pauses to think, “...South America...” his closes his eyes and tosses the coin in the air. When it lands in his hand he opens his eyes, looking down to see the familiar head...
He freezes... it’s tails...
Taking a deep breath he puts the coin away. “Well Metropolis... I hope you’re ready for Clark Kent...”
Fin: Coin Toss
