This has been sitting on my hard drive for a few months now, but I'm on a two-week break from school, and rather than doing my extra math course, I decided to re-read some of the stuff I've had stashed away. I kind of liked this one.
It's inspired by the song 'Good Directions' by Billy Currington ->
Link Here . Every time I listen to this song, I put Lois & Clark into it, so I decided to see what I could come up with.
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Lois jabbed violently at the buttons on her rental car’s stereo system, but all she could get was static and one exceptionally dull talk-radio station that was currently discussing agricultural trends.
“Is this really all Smallville, Kansas has to offer?” She muttered to herself as she finally gave up and turned the radio off entirely.
The train that had taken fifteen minutes to pass was finally dragging its last boxcar across the length of track in front of her. Not that she knew where she was going anyways. Perry had sent her on an assignment for the Daily Planet that turned out to be a complete bust.
“Crop circles! Hah!” She scoffed to herself as she drove over the bumpy tracks toward the dirt road.
An assignment that had promised to be a legitimate story about possible life forms, visiting from other planets, turned out to be a bunch of teenagers pulling pranks on unsuspecting farmers.
“There’s nothing even remotely close to an alien life form anywhere near this god-forsaken town, unless you count rednecks as aliens.” She grumbled to herself as she searched the vast length of dirt road and fields for some kind of marker or indication that she was going the right way.
Somewhere in the distance she could make out what looked like a car on the side of the road, and she hoped with everything in her being that she wouldn’t come across the bleached bones of a lost person who broke down and was never rescued. As she neared the vehicle, she noticed movement and decided to pull over and ask if they needed help or knew where the heck they both were. As she pulled over and rolled down her window, a tall, dark-haired man smiled and approached her car.
“Lost or hungry?” He asked, smiling down at her.
Lois squinted as the afternoon sun blinded her from behind his head.
“I beg your pardon?” She asked, confused by his question.
“Are you lost, or are you looking to buy some fresh picked produce?” He asked, gesturing toward the back of his pickup truck at the cases of assorted fruits and vegetables.
“Oh! I’m lost. My GPS and my radio signal went out about a mile before the train tracks. I’m trying to get to the airport, but there was a detour.” She gestured over her shoulder with her hand. “They said something about some kind of pesticides that were used on some Joe Blow’s farm years ago.”
The man smiled and nodded.
“Wayne Irig.” He corrected her, leaning against her car. “Anyways, you want to go way up this road, don’t turn off. You’ll see what looks like a fork in the road, but it’s just a long driveway that’ll take you the Simms farm. Just keep on heading straight until you get past the caution light. You’ll see a little diner with a great big Coca-Cola sign.” He explained carefully as Lois jotted down the directions on a paper napkin she found in her backseat.
“Oh is the food any good? I’m starving!” Lois interrupted.
“The food’s great. Stop in there and ask for Mrs. Kent. Tell her I sent you, and she’ll fix you up. You gotta try the sweet-tea.” He said with a wink.
Lois smiled shyly at him and nodded as she waited for the rest of the driving directions.
“Once you hit the diner, take the first left to get onto the interstate. That’ll take you right to Airport Road, and I’m sure you can figure out where to go from there. There will be signs all over.” He shrugged casually and smiled down at her.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” She said softly as she gazed into his deep brown eyes.
“Just a second!” He said as he jogged back over to his truck, returning quickly with a small basket of strawberries. “On the house. Just remember where you got them if you like them. We could use a returning customer every once in a while.” He said as he handed her the basket.
“Thanks, but I’m not actually from around here, so you’ll probably never see me again.” Lois said with an apologetic smile.
“Well, enjoy anyway!” He said as Lois started up her engine again.
“Don’t forget: left at the diner takes you to the interstate. Remember left. If you take a right, you’ll do a full circle and end up right back here again.” He said with a chuckle.
Lois smiled and pulled away with a final wave of thanks.
…
Clark watched as the woman of his dreams drove away, disappearing into a cloud of dust that the tires of her car kicked up around her as she sped away.
“Not like you have a chance with a girl like that anyways, Clark!” his friend said from his perch on the fence post behind the truck. For a brief moment, Clark had completely forgotten about Pete.
“She really was beautiful, wasn’t she?” Clark said, sighing.
“Too bad you didn’t have brains enough to ask her for her number.” Pete teased.
“Her number, I didn’t even get her name!” Clark exclaimed, kicking a rock across the road.
“You fool! It could have been true love!” Pete said with a laugh.
“She probably didn’t even like me. She would have stayed to talk or introduced herself if she was interested.” Clark said, rationalizing the situation.
“You should go after her and find out.” Pete said jokingly.
“This hunk of rusted out tin couldn’t catch the sports car she was driving even if we dumped all the boxes.” Clark sighed heavily.
…
Lois watched in her rearview mirror as the man and his truck became increasingly smaller until she could no longer see him.
“If that’s what they’re growing on these farms, this might not be so bad.” She mumbled to herself as she bit into a strawberry.
She slowed down as she passed a turn off but continued on past it when she realized this was the driveway to the Simms farm that the man had warned her about. She’d been driving for fifteen minutes and was beginning to think this diner didn’t exist when she finally saw the large Coca-Cola sign he had mentioned in his directions.
Lois turned into the wide open space of gravel that acted as a parking lot for the diner and parked the car. As good as the strawberries were, she needed something a little more substantial to tide her over and kill some time before her flight.
…
“Hi there! Come on in! Sit anywhere you like, and I’ll be right with you.” An elderly woman said as Lois walked into the modest diner.
Lois took a seat in one of the few empty booths in the diner.
‘The food must be good if they’ve got such a full house.’ She mused as she glanced around at the patrons filling the small space.
“What can I get ya?” The elderly woman asked, smiling down at Lois.
“Oh, I haven’t looked at the menu yet, but the gentleman down the road, selling produce just past the railway tracks, recommended this place. He said to tell Mrs. Kent he sent me, and she’d fix me up with something good, so whatever the Missus recommends is fine with me.” Lois said, smiling casually.
“Oh! You must mean Clark. He’s good for business.” The woman teased. “I’m Mrs. Kent, and today’s special is a basket of sweet potato fries and any soup or sandwich of your choice.” She explained.
“Great.” Lois said, smiling at the older woman. “I’ll take a club sandwich special then. Oh, and, Clark was it? He said I just HAD to try your sweet-tea.” She continued, hoping the blush she felt on her cheeks wasn’t as evident as it felt.
Martha winked at her and disappeared behind the busy counter across the room.
As Lois waited, she noticed the diner begin to clear out. People were leaving cash on the tables and disappearing out the door.
“Lunch break’s over at the Simms farm.” The woman explained, placing the food on the table and noticing Lois’ curious expression. “Dairy and pigs mostly. Takes a lot of hands to produce the amount they do though.” Martha explained, placing her hands on her hips and exhaling.
“You look exhausted. Would your boss mind terribly if I asked you to join me?” Lois asked as she took a sip of the sweet-tea.
“Well, she’s kind of a slave driver, but I guess I am entitled to a break.” The woman replied with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “Jonathan, Simms’ farm hands all just left. Let’s have some lunch before the dinner rush!” She called toward the kitchen as she sat down in the large booth.
Lois smiled at the older woman’s humour, finally realizing that she WAS the boss.
“I’m Martha Kent by the way.” She said, smiling warmly at Lois.
“Lois Lane.” Lois replied, nodding at her press pass on the table next to her.
“Oh! The Daily Planet!” Martha exclaimed, admiring the badge. “Jonathan, look! She works for the Daily Planet!” She said excitedly as a large man came out of the kitchen carrying two plates of food.
“You sure are a long way from home, Miss Lane.” Jonathan said as he placed the plates down and took a seat next to Martha.
“Yea, tell me about it.” Lois said with a sigh. “My editor sent me out here to write up a story about some alien activity that was spotted in the area.” She said with a casual shrug. She was so immersed in the amazing food in front of her that she didn’t see the worried glance that Martha and Jonathan shared.
“It was all a hoax anyways. The alleged crop circles turned out to be made by a bunch of teenagers.” Lois continued as she popped a fry into her mouth.
“Oh, yes. We heard about that.” Martha said, relaxing into the booth again.
“So, what’s the deal with the produce guy on the side of the road? Do you country people always lure passersby into buying produce by having a strategically placed piece of eye candy?” Lois asked casually, eliciting hearty chuckles from both Martha and Jonathan.
“Well, he’s just come home from travelling, so we had to make him earn his keep somehow.” Martha teased.
“Earn his keep?” Lois asked curiously.
“Clark’s our boy.” Jonathan explained, smiling proudly.
“Oh my gosh!” Lois exclaimed, blushing profusely before bursting into a fit of laughter with the elderly couple.
…
“Thanks again!” Lois said, gesturing to the thermos of Martha’s sweet-tea in her hand as she left the diner. She got into her car and waved as she pulled out of the gravel lot and headed toward the interstate turn.
Lois was just approaching Airport Road when something compelled her to turn around.
Her tires ground against the gravel road as she pulled a quick U-Turn and accelerated back toward the diner. She drove right past and headed back down the dirt road she’d come from.
She noted the driveway to the Simms farm that she’d passed earlier and continued down the dirt road, kicking up huge clouds of dust all around her.
…
“What the heck is that?” Pete asked, pointing at a cloud of dust speeding toward them.
“What kind of maniac is driving that fast down a dirt road!?” Clark asked, prepared to shield his face from the eminent dust storm.
He braced himself for a long while until he realized that storm wasn’t coming. When he lowered his arm he saw the sports car slowly approaching.
“You again? Did you get turned around leaving the diner?” Clark asked, confused as to why this woman was coming back down the same road she had disappeared up earlier.
“No, I got halfway up Airport Road when I realized I forgot something.” She said with a smile.
“Forgot what?” Clark asked, genuinely curious as to what this strange woman could have possibly forgotten.
“Here.” She said, handing him the thermos. “You looked thirsty when I came by earlier.” She lied.
She had taken the extra tea to go for her wait at the small airport when Martha explained that she probably wouldn’t find anything worth drinking in the small terminal.
Clark smiled with a confused expression.
“Some of your
mother’s sweet-tea.” Lois explained with a smile and a slight raise of her eyebrow.
Clark blushed and smiled back at her.
“Oh, and this.” She said, handing him her business card. “If you’re ever in Metropolis, look me up.” She said with a shy shrug.
“Lois Lane? Daily Planet?” Clark asked, obviously shocked. “I have a job interview next week with the Editor, a Perry White? I’ll be in town for a few days.” Clark explained excitedly.
“Really?” Lois asked, just as excited by this information.
“Yea, maybe you can show me around. I’m going to need to find a decent place to eat if I get the job.” Clark said with a cheeky smirk.
“Well it just so happens, my Uncle Mike’s café makes the best food this side of Suicide Slum.” Lois teased.
“I’ll give you a call when I’m in town then.” Clark said with a confident nod.
“I look forward to hearing from you.” Lois said, her eyes connecting with his for a long moment before they said goodbye and she disappeared up the dirt road again.
Fin.
