“The Rock Collection”  Rated PG-13

1======

Samantha Kent and Joel Luthor walked through the snow in the woods of LaSalle State Park.  Samantha said, “I think it’s GREAT what you’re doing Joel.  Clara will LOVE it!  It’s the BEST Christmas present anyone ever thought of!”

Joel said, “It’s not just for Mom.  It’s for everybody in the family … at least everyone with powers … except for Dad … but I’m sure he’ll be happy when he finds out about it.  I’m doing it a lot … umm … I wanted to do it … for … you.  I hate having to have you help me … cause it makes you sick and all … but you are really sensitive to it … like the Princess and the pea and all … but that makes you the best person for the job.  If you get sick, lean on me, okay?  And if you get too sick we’ll just forget about it and go home  … because then it won’t be worth it to me anymore.”

Samantha said, “Oh, you are just SO sweet!  I think you are the nicest of all my nephews!”

Joel said, “Do you REALLY mean that!”

Samantha said, “Yes I do!”

Joel asked, “Would you kiss me?”  Samantha leaned over and kissed Joel on the cheek.  Joel smiled and asked, “Would you let me kiss you?”

Samantha said, “Okay.”

Joel asked, “I’m a little embarrassed.  Would you close your eyes?” 

Samantha said, “Okay.”

Samantha closed her eyes and tiled her head so that Joel could kiss her cheek.  Joel smiled then floated off the ground to add eighteen inches to his height.  He put a hand through Samantha’s long blond hair and behind her neck and pulled her face towards his and into a passionate kiss on the mouth.  Her eyes pooped open in surprise.  She squirmed a bit then gave in for five or six seconds, then she pushed against Joel’s chest so hard that he was thrown fifteen yards.  He would have gone further but he struck the base of a large tree.  The tree’s trunk cracked and the tree topped towards Samantha.  She blew a puff of air towards the tree and it shifted course and fell nearby.  Samantha ended up getting dusted with snow.  Joel just laid at the base of the tree with a silly smile on his face.

Samantha shouted, “WHAT WAS THAT?!!”

Joel said, “Ahhh!  That was our first REAL kiss!”  He got up and brushed himself off.  He said, “I didn’t want people saying that you got to be sweet sixteen and had never been kissed.”

Samantha said, “Well I’m only fourteen … and … and  …and relatives don’t count!”

Joel said, “Well I count because Mom’s adopted so you’re not REALLY her sister!”

Samantha shouted, “I AM SO HER SISTER!  AND … and … and who says that I’ve never been kissed?”

Joel’s eyes turned red and steamy.  He shouted, “WHO KISSED YOU?!!”

Samantha said, “I didn’t say that anyone did … and I didn’t say that anyone didn’t.  But you shouldn’t be kissing me … because … because … you’re only nine years old  ….”

Joel said, “I’m almost TEN!”

Samantha continued, “You’re NINE – not EVEN halfway to TEN! And like I was saying before you interrupted me, and nine year old boys don’t like that kind of thing!”

Joel said, Joel licked his lips and said, “Do you want to bet?  I could prove you wrong Aunt Sam.  Do you want to see how much I don’t like kissing you?”

Samantha said, “Don’t!  You can’t go around kissing girls like that.  It’s not polite!”

Joel said, “I don’t.  I saved my lips for you.”

Samantha said, “Well DON’T!  I won’t help you anymore.  I won’t!  If you try that … five or six more times I’ll go straight home and you can get one of your brothers to help you!”

Joel said, “They won’t help … and I don’t want them to.  They’ll blab about it and take all the credit.  I want this to be a surprise … and … and … and I want you to be the one that I do this with.  I want you to be the one I do everything with.”

Samantha said, “Well, okay then, but watch your manners and remember … do that six or seven more times and I’m heading home!”  Joel ran over and held Samantha’s hand again.  She asked, “Do we HAVE to hold hands to do this?”

Joel said, “Umm.  A … Yes!  It is the only way it will work.  Well, it WILL work better a different way.”

Samantha asked, “Like what?”

Joel said, “If I wrap an arm around your waist I can feel your body’s impulses better.”

Samantha said, “Well, then I guess we’ll hold hands.”

2======

 Joel and Samantha went back to walking the path that they had charted.  Samantha said, “Yuck!  There is another one near where we are standing!  If we do this again tomorrow, I’m not eating first!”

Joel said, “Step back until you feel better.”  Joel gazed into the ground and said, “Oh.  This one is pitiful!  If you weren’t so sensitive, I probably wouldn’t have noticed … HEY!  There’s a bigger one.  That’s the one that probably made you feel sick.  They are definitely getting bigger!”  Joel plunged his hand into the ground and pulled out a rock the size of his fist.  Then he dug deeper and pulled out one the size of a football.

Samantha said, “Oh Jeeze!  I can’t believe you can touch one that size!  It makes me want to hurl just looking at it.”

Joel said, “I guess I was just born lucky.  Speaking of hurling, check out my aim on this one!”  Joel threw the rocks into the air.  They saw the rocks fly to a pile that Joel was making two miles away from the mansion.

Samantha said, “Big deal.  Any one of us could do that … if it wasn’t ….”

Joel said, “Yeah, but it is.  Let’s pick up the pace.  I want this entire area cleaned out before Christmas.  Mom told me a story once about a really big one that left a crater and a man that helped her while she was unconscious.  She’s not big on exaggeration so I think we haven’t seen much of anything yet.  Someday I want to figure out the time travel thing and come back and find out who helped my Mom and tell him thank you.”

Joel and Samantha continued on their way and got into a rhythm.  Samantha would squeeze Joel’s hand and point whenever she felt something.  Joel would quickly find and dig out the rocks and toss them.  The rock pile got bigger every minute.  Before long, they entered a clearing with strange plants in it.  Samantha pulled her hand away from Joel and put both hands on her abdomen.  She said, “OH!  It’s REALLY bad here!”

Joel shouted, “GREAT!  These weird plants are probably mutated by it.  This is the crater.  There it is!  YES!  You’d better back off.  There are a lot of little ones down there too!”  Joel ran down into the depression.  In a second he had cleared the dirt from around the largest of the rocks.  It was the size of a mini van.

Samantha gasped in horror.  She screamed, “BE CAREFUL JOEL!  You might not be TOTALLY immune.  That thing could KILL you!

Joel said, “Don’t worry, Sweet Thing.  I don’t feel even a little bit of pain.”

Samantha said, “Don’t be calling me “Sweet Thing” or there will be no end to the pain I cause you!”

Joel easily lifted the rock.  He pulled his arms back a bit then threw the rock to his rock pile.  The other rocks in the pile flew in every direction when it struck.  He said, “OOPS!  I’m glad everyone at home went to Metropolis to shop today.  They would have heard that one!”  He looked in the dirt at his feet then yelled, “Hey Samantha!  There are rubies down here too!”

Samantha said, “Really?!  Bring some of them here.  I’ll make my Mom a necklace with them!”

Joel grabbed a few of the clear, red stones, brushed them off, ran out of the crater and handed them to Samantha.  Her hand clamped shut on them.  She got a strange smile on her face and said. “I’m keeping these for myself!  AND I want more of them!  Get me more!”

Joel said, “Sure, but we’ve still got a lot of other work to do.”

Samantha said, “I’ll trade you for them.  I’ve got something I know you want, small fry.  And I’ll tell you a little secret.  You’ve got something that I want too.”

Joel said, “The rubies?”

Samantha said, “Those too.”

Joel said, “You don’t have to pay me for the rubies.  I’ll do that just because.”

Samantha said, “But you’ll like what I’m willing to do for them.  Come closer.”

Joel hesitantly stepped closer and Samantha grabbed him with her free hand.  She lifted him by his coat and began kissing him.  Joel was in Heaven for a couple minutes then Samantha put him on the ground and leaned over him.  She started touching him in strange ways and he began loosing control of his body heat.

Joel said, “Sammy, what … what are you do … do … doing?”

Samantha mocked him saying, “Feels goo … goo … good, doesn’t it?  You WERE the first guy to kiss me that special way.  Do you want to be the first guy to do a lot of other things with me?  I hope so because I’m not planning on giving you much choice.”

Joel said, “God help me!  What else is there other than kissing?”

Samantha said, “We can pretend I’m a doctor and I can examine you.”

Joel said, “Uh.  I feel okay.”

Samantha said, “I’m sure that you do.  But if you don’t like that game, I can pretend I’m Clara and you can pretend that you’re Lex.  We can do the married people stuff.”

Joel said, “Are you going to make lunch for me?  Is that it?”

Samantha asked, “Is that ALL that you think couples are about?  There is so much more to it.  None of it much interested me until a few minutes ago but now I am so curious I can hardly stand it.  Let’s get naked.”

Joel said, “OUTSIDE?!  It’s not even bath night!”

Samantha said, “Don’t you want to see me naked?”

Joel said, “I really like how you look in clothes.”

Samantha said, “Well, for you, I’ll keep most of them on.  But like I said, I’m curious.”

Joel started to get up but Samantha pushed him back to the ground and started to unfasten Joel’s pants.  Joel raised his feet to Samantha’s abdomen and pushed her away.  She landed deep in the crater and started screaming.  Almost instantly, Joel was by her side.  He pried open her hand and took the red stones away from her.  He flung them to his pile.  He picked up a small piece of the other kind of stone and put it in his pocket.  He lifted Samantha gently, carried her out of the crater and laid her on her back on the ground.

Samantha cried as she asked, “Wha … wha … what happened?”

Joel said, “I don’t know.  It was kind of nice … and kind of scary at the same time.  I think the rubies had something to do with it.”

Samantha continued to cry as she said, “Mom said that I couldn’t have red stones … but these were for her … not for me … they would have looked pretty with her red hair.  My MOM!  You’re not going to tell my Mom or Dad … or anyone else … what I did … ARE YOU?!  IF YOU DO I’LL NEVER EVER TALK TO YOU AGAIN!”  Samantha wailed and cried loudly.

Joel leaned over her and wiped her tears.  He stroked her hair and said, “I wouldn’t tell.  This could be out first secret.”  Samantha managed to get herself under control. She nervously licked her lips as she looked up at Joel … who suddenly seemed so much older and mature to her.  Joel asked, “Did you say six or seven more times?”

Samantha said, “Eight or nine more … and I’ll go home!  The kissing I did doesn’t count, only the one you did.  Hey.  I’m feeling a little weak.  Do you have some kryptonite in your pocket or do you have some strange power over me?”  Joel decided that Samantha was acting normal enough that he no longer needed to protect himself from her.  He reached into his pocket and fished out the small fragment of kryptonite.  Without taking his eyes off Samantha’s face, he flung the kryptonite so that it would land with the now enormous pile of green kryptonite that he was gathering.  He smiled at Samantha and she smiled back.  He lowered his face and began a long and gentle kiss.  When he lifted his head, she said, “Do that eight more times and I’ll stop helping you!”  Joel took at deep breathe and prayed that he would be able to stop before Samantha’s honor would force her to leave him alone to face the task he had set for himself.

3======

It was Christmas day and the Kent and Luthor families gathered to open presents.  Samantha said, “Joel wants you to see his present to the family first.  I helped him a little it but it was his idea and he did most of the work.  If you want to remember his present, you’d better get a camera … you might need a telephoto lens.”

Clara said, “Joel, Honey!  Where is he?  Is he bringing the present in or is it under the tree already?”

Samantha said, “The present was too big to bring in … and you wouldn’t want it anywhere near you anyway.  Wait a second.”  Samantha whistled in a high pitch that only those with super powers (and some of the family pets) could hear.  Samantha said, “For anyone without vision powers, you’ll need to go out on the patio to get a good view of it.”

Everyone filed outside and looked around.  Samantha pointed to the crest of a nearby hill.  A green point appeared and seemed to grow out of the grown as Joel carried his gift up the hill.  Martha said, “Oh my Lord!  That’s the biggest Christmas tree I have EVER seen.  The red trim is beautiful.  I like the way the entire tree glistens in the sunlight!”

Samantha said, “Joel was going to make it look like a big space ship but I suggested the shape of a Christmas tree.  But he made it all himself!”

Martha asked, “You mean that isn’t a tree?”

Clara said, “No it’s not … and it had better not be what I think it is!”

Samantha said, “It’s all the kryptonite that was in that meteor shower that hit the Smallville vicinity years ago – at least all of it that wasn’t picked up, mined or hauled off.”

Jon shouted, “WHAT?”

Lex said, “That thing must be twelve stories high!”

Larry said, “It makes me sick just looking at it!”

Clara shouted, “LEX, LOOK!  Joel is out there carrying that thing.  He’ll be killed.  Go out and get him!”

Samantha said, “Don’t worry.  Joel found out that he’s immune to the stuff like Lex is.”

Clara said, “What?  That can’t be!”

Before anything else could be said, the kryptonite Christmas tree took off into the air.

Martha asked, “What’s happening?”

Samantha said, It’s going on a one way trip to the sun.  Isn’t it great!  That’s the best present ever!”

Clara stood there with her mouth hanging open.

Lex said, “How stupid am I?  I should have done that years ago!  Of course I might have held on to some of the red stuff.”

Clara’s head turned quickly in Lex’s direction.  She said, “Oh, I don’t think so!”

William said, “That’s really something.  He had a tactical advantage over all of us and he erased it just for one big act of sucking up to Mom and Dad.”

Alan said, “I think he really did it for his … girl friend.  Let the twerp have his moment.  How’s he going to top this next year?”

4======Epilog

On his 28^th birthday, Joel decided to do something he had long promised himself that he would do.  He traveled back in time to thank the man that had saved his Mother so many years before.  He saw his Mother run from Smallville High School.  He couldn't believe that his Mother didn't look any younger than the woman he had said goodbye to just an hour earlier.  He could see how upset she was.  He wanted to go to her and tell her that everything would be all right -- just as she had told him the same thing on so many occasions when he was sure that nothing would ever be all right ever again.  But he knew that he mustn't change anything.  The events must remain as they had been or his very existence could be at risk.  He followed her to LaSalle State park and vibrated to make himself intangible to even her keen senses whenever she looked his direction.  Then it happened, just as she told him it had.  She tumbled into the crater.  She tried to get up but couldn't.  She tried to crawl away, but she couldn't.  Her cries for help were heartbreaking, but he kept focused on why he was there.  He watched as his Mother passed out.  He heard her talking to her dead parents while she was unconscious.  He looked around and waited for whoever was going to come and rescue her.  Where could he be?  He kept watch on his Mother.  She was turning a darker shade of green.  He could hardly stand it.  Then he saw two people standing near her.  It was a man and a woman in strange clothes.  They just stood there doing nothing.  He couldn't control himself for another second.  He shouted, "What are you doing?  For God's sake help her."  The two people turned, looked up at him they smiled up at him.  In the woman and man he recognized his Mother.  He couldn't believe it.  They motioned to him as they vanished from sight.  He looked back at his Mother.  She was smiling now, but there was no sign of life in her.  Joel ran down into the crater.  He lifted her.  Her body was so cold.  He carried her out of the crater and sat her at the base of a tree.  He removed his cape and wrapped it about her.  He quickly gathered some wood and lit a fire with his heat vision.  He said, "Mom, I can't leave you here alone."  He stood over her and watched her sleep.  When she started to wake, he quickly walked off then floated into the air and continued to watch her.  She got up and looked around.  She called out asking who was there.  Joel resisted his temptation to answer her.  When she looked his direction, he would vibrate so that she wouldn't notice him.  She put out the fire and marveled at the cape that he had mistakenly left with her.  She took the cape and was soon gone.  William stayed a while to wait for the man that was supposed to have rescued his Mother.  After a while he was getting impatient and was ready to give up.  Then it hit him and he laughed.  He said, "Well, thank me for saving Mom.  Thank me very much."  He laughed again and his laughed echoed long after he was far away in time. 

THE END