Hope Is Where It All Starts

Chapter 8

I never wanted to deal with losing someone close to me again. But I guess nobody ever gets what they want.

The day of the fair started as any other day. We gathered our stuff and got in the car to go to the fair. Mr. Kent and Clark in the front seat, and Mrs. Kent, the dogs and I in the back. it was a pretty good drive until, "So, Dot. Have you given anymore thought about where you're going to college?" Mrs. Kent asked me, I started to have that same feeling from when I first moved to Smallville. The one where I wanted a black hole to appear and get me as far away from everyone as possible. But, I promised Clark I would help him talk to his dad. "I've actually decided to attend Metropolis University. I made the call last night. Starting in the fall, I'll be a Met U girl." "Congratulations Dot," Mr. Kent said to me, sincere happiness expressed in his words. "It'll be weird not having you around to keep our boy in line" he continues, giving Clark a pat on the shoulders.

"Actually Dad" Clark starts, "I've decided I want to go to Met U too. Maybe get a journalism degree." There it was, laid out in black and white. The proverbial bandage had been ripped off. All that was left was for the storm to hit, and judging from Mrs. Kent's face, she was thinking the exact same thing. "So you just think you can pick up and leave your Mom and I? Jerk off your responsibilities to the farm? Is that it?" 

"I just wanna do something useful with my life." Clark says in his defense. I winced, fearing that his choice in words would only add fuel to the fire. "So farming, feeding people. That's not useful?" Said Mr Kent. Sometimes I hat being right. "I didn't say that" Clark tells him, trying and not succeeding in getting has dad to calm down. No surprise that it didn't work. "Our families been farming for five generations Clark" "Your family. Not mine!" Oh no, this was getting bad quick. "I don't even know why I'm listening to you. You're not my dad." I really hoped that Clark would keep his big mouth shut before... "You're just some guy who found me in a field." I may love the guy, but there are time I just wished that Clark would shut up. This was one of those times.

"Clark!" Mrs. Kent and I said at the same time. Both shocked that Clark would resort to hurting his father that way. "It's all right girls." Mr. Kent tells us, trying (and not succeeding) to hide how Clark's words really hurt him. "Clark's right, he has a point. We're not your parents." He told Clark, turning his attention to his son. "But we've been doing the best we can. And we've been making this up as we go along. So maybe...maybe out best isn't good enough anymore."  I guess Mr. Kent's words really had an affect on Clark because when I looked at him he looked down in remorse. "Look, Dad..." he began to tell his dad. I sometimes wonder what he was going to tell his dad, but we never found out because right then was when the storm hit. Literally.

"Hold on..." Mr. Kent said. We all got out of the car to see what was happening ahead of us, and there it was. A tornado. And it was heading right toward us. "Get to the over pass!" Mr. Kent said immediately pushing us out of danger. Clark quickly grabbed on to his mother and I and lead us to the over pass. We were almost there but then I realized there something missing. And then it hit me. "Hank and Chase are still in the car!" I told Clark, and then with every ounce of adrenaline in my body I ran for the car as quickly as I could, ignoring Clark and Mrs. Kent's shouting for me to come back. 

I quickly dodged Mr. Kent and made my way over the car. Once I got there I opened the door and they made their way over to the over pass. Once I knew they were safe I looked around me and looked up into the sky. "Storm make a path for me" I shouted up in air The wind died down enough for me to make it to the over pass. I just had to focus my energy on the storm and making to safety. Unfortunately, Mr Kent chose that particular time to come for me. "Dorothy, are you crazy?!" he shouts at me, clearly out of worry and not anger. "You could get killed out here!" With him yelling at me I lost my focus and the storm started to grow strong around us again. "Mr. Kent you can yell at me later. We don't have a lot of time before this storm consumes us!" I tell him as I try to refocus my powers on calming the storm. "Dad! Dorothy!" I barely hear Clark shout out our names. All my focusing made my energy drain quickly, but I didn't care. I just wanted to make everyone safe. I felt Mr. Clark's hand son my shoulders and the  last thing I heard was him saying "Look after my son Dot." And then I blacked out.

The next time I woke up, I heard this beeping sound. When everything became clearer, I realized I was in the hospital , and that beeping was a heart monitor. I turned to see Grandma Em and Grandpa Henry in the room with me. "What's going on?" I asked in a hoarse voice. I really needed some water. "Dotty. " Grandma Em exclaimed, getting up to give me great big bear hug. Well, as big a hug as she could with me hooked up to a heart machine. "We were worried you'd ditch us for the land of Oz." Grandpa Henry told me, trying to lighten the mood. "I did," I told them, wanting to lighten the mood along with Grandpa Henry . "Turns out my name sake was right. There really is no place like home." I tell them.

"What  happened? I remember the tornado and being caught in the middle of it, but why did I blackout?" I ask. "Officially, you were in shock due to the storm and passed out. Unofficially, using your magic the way that you did drained your energy causing you to faint." Grandma Em told me. "Luckily mr. Kent shoved into Clark to get you out of harm's way." 

"Are the Kents okay?" I ask, wanting to know what I happened to my best friend and his family. I felt bad enough hat they were fearing for my life because of what I did. "Martha and Clark are fine Dotty" Grandpa Henry tells me, avoiding telling me about one particular family member. "What about Mr. Kent? Is he okay" I ask, ignoring that my heart monitor is beeping out of control out this point. I notice them looking at each other as if in agreement on something and the they turn back to me. "We're so sorry Dot, but Mr. Kent didn't make it. He's gone" Grandma Em tells me.

I couldn't believe it. I was waiting for them to tell me it was sick joke. That Mr. Kent was actually fine and was waiting for me to wake up so he could give me a lecture on the importance on doing what I was told and to tell me how with great Power comes great responsibility. But I could tell by the looks on their face that they were rolling the truth.

I felt so many things at that moment. Sadness, rage, confusion, but worst of all, guilt. If I hadn't got back to the car, Mr. Kent wouldn't have gone after me, and he would still be alive. Mrs. Kent would still have her husband and Clark would still have his dad. Then suddenly it hit me. I killed my best friends dad. How could I ever face him again?

(Hey guys, I'm back. Sorry it took me so long to post this. But I had a hard time figuring out where I wanted this chapter to go. I finally felt good about this outcome. I hope you guys like it. I've decided this I'll being doing this story for the Smallville TV series as well. Sort of tying into the Multiverse, so stay tuned for that. I also wanted to give a thank you to all the people who have been reading this so far and to anyone who has added this to their reading list or library. You have no idea how much this means to me especially with this being the first eve story I've published. As always comments are more than welcome so please don't be afraid to comment and tell me you thoughts. TTFN, ta-ta for now!)