A quiet settled into the cozy valley, occasionally broken by the chatter of birds. In a little campsite along the stream, Randy sat watching the flitterings of robins against the twilight hues that painted the sky. He could see a large swath of sky between the trees, and anxiously awaited the arrival of stars.
“Careful with that, Honey.” Randy looked over to see Debra grasp the pointy stick their daughter had been waving about. She pulled the little girl onto her lap near the firepit, and showed her how to roast a marshmallow. The fire was small but still going strong after cooking their meal, and Randy delighted in the warm atmosphere.
A heavy crack from the darkening forest disturbed that. A silent unease grew within him when it sounded again.
••.•´•.••My Part••.•´•.••
This time a loud boom followed the cracking sound. It sounded like a tree or a very large tree branch had fallen on the forest floor. Whatever caused the cracking and booming sounds, it had to be quite powerful to break off a large tree limb or to knock a whole tree over as though it was nothing.
Randy was scared, and didn’t want to alarm Debra by showing it. His thought process seemed to be incapacitated at that moment – he was frozen and couldn’t decide what to do. Debra, having also heard the sounds, decided they needed to leave everything where it was and get to their car quickly. She rose with little Betsy in her arms and told Randy to get up and follow her.
Randy seemed to not hear her, so she shook him by his shoulder. “Let’s GO,” she said, “to the car; quickly!” They ran, with Randy holding onto Debra’s top, as he was still too shaken to be of any help to his family. When they reached the car Debra got them all inside and put the key in the ignition, started the car and turned on the lights.
The bright light from the headlights revealed what had been making the noise, but Debra could not believe her eyes. There in front of them, about twenty feet away, stood Superman. Yes, THE Superman! He seemed off balance, with one hand on his forehead. He looked drunk, actually.
Debra turned off the engine but kept the headlights on. She then exited the car and walked toward the “Man of Steel.” She yelled, “Are you okay? What happened to you?” Superman turned to look at her, as Randy and little Betsy joined her where she stood. “It’s really Superman,” Randy said, completely in awe of what he was witnessing.
“I’ll be fine in a while,” Superman told her. “I just escaped from a vault containing green Kryptonite with the help of a Forest Ranger, and I’m still a bit discombobulated from the exposure.”
“Can we do anything to help you?”
“No need. I’ll be back to normal in another couple of minutes or so,” he said. “I guess I was making quite a frightening racket, bumping into a couple of trees as I couldn’t get my balance.” Then he laughed and said, “This is sure an awkward moment for me. No one has seen me in this condition before - especially a pretty lady like you.”
Debra blushed and then said, “Oh, this is my husband Randy and our daughter, Betsy.”
The Man of Steel, now appearing to be fully recovered, walked over to the family and told Debra to hand little Betsy over to Randy. When she’d done that, he told her to hold onto him because he was taking her for a ride, and up and away they went! Superman took her around the lake, lit only by the moonlight. He told her he’d like if she’d visit his Fortress of Solitude sometime.
After he returned with Debra, he took Randy for a ride, and then little Betsy.
After he returned he shook their hands, and then told Debra, “Don’t forget my invitation Deb,” and then smiled. He then flew off and was gone in an instant.
Forest: Image by Florian Kurz from Pixabay