Jamie, the new Superboy, helps residents of a community that is stricken by a hurricane. |
Herbert and Amy Henriquez were sitting up front, while Jamie, Gregory, and Gregâs little sister Carrie were sitting on the back seat of the SUV. Greg and Jamie played cards and video games to pass the time while they were driving. It would have been so easy for him to just fly down to Florida. But on this was his vacation he vowed not to wear his Superboy outfit during the trip. In fact, he had left the blue outfit with the red cape; boots and trunk at home in Metropolis! He was coming along with Gregâs family to enjoy the sun, the beach, and to relax before the start of the new school year. Gregâs little sister, Carrie, was sound asleep on the back seat. That way, both boys were able to play their games, without having to worry about his little sister. âWant to play some cards?â Greg asked his buddy. Jamie just nodded, as Greg opened up a small box with a deck of cards. Greg shuffled the deck and dealt the cards. He and Jamie shared a small âlap tableâ set on the seat between them. Greg kept track of the chips and the cards, while he and Jamie played several hands of poker. Greg was lucky and he knew how to play his cards right. In fact, he had beaten Jamie four hands in a row! When Greg had dealt the cards for the fifth round, he noticed that Jamie was taking a little longer to decide which card he was going to put on the table. Jamie had almost run out of chips, and he was very close to losing. Greg noticed Jamieâs eyes. Not only was he staring intently at the backs of the cards in Gregoryâs hand. There was something else. It was Jamieâs eyes. Momentarily, they had changed color from blue to bright green, before changing back to blue again! Greg had observed this transformation in Jamieâs eyes before. This time, he made the connection. He realized, âHe is x-raying my cards. Heâs cheating on me!â Greg looked Jamie in the eye, tapped his cheek just below his right eye and then shook his head ever so slightly as he softly clucked âtch, tch, tch.â Jamie flushed bright red as he realized heâd been caught by his friend. âHow did he DO that?â Jamie wondered. To himself, Greg marveled, âHe doesnât know! He doesnât realize his eyes change color from blue to green when he is in x-ray mode. Greg made a mental note to tell this to Jamie when they were by themselves. âHeâll need to know that about himself. If I figured it out, someone else might be able to do the same thing. Heâll need to be very careful with that.â Jamie was overcome with remorse. To himself he mused, âItâs not much fun to lose at canasta. But itâs even WORSE to get caught cheating on your friend. I know Iâve dropped several notches in Greggyâs eyes and rightly so. Iâll hafta apologize to him when weâre alone. One thingâs for certain. Iâll NEVER use my vision power to cheat at cards again. I canât believe I did that, not only to Greggy, my FRIEND, but also to MYSELF!â They rode in uneasy silence for a long time. Carrie had been asleep alongside Jamie. Greg was seated on the left hand side, next to the window, Carrie on the right. Jamie has sat in the middle so he and Greg could play cards without disturbing Carrie. She stirred and then, quite suddenly, she was awake. Jamie looked over at her and smiled. âYou awake now, sleepy head?â She yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she nodded. Carrie secretly had a little bit of a crush on Jamie, only one of many girls who did. He was shorter than average, but with a sturdy build that bespoke power and purpose. But beyond his handsome, athletic good looks, Jamie had a twinkle in his merry eyes that could make any little girl swoon. Carrie also had a crush on Superboy, little knowing that her two âidolsâ were one and the same boy. She pulled a teen magazine, âIngĂ©nueâ out of her travel bag. Even though she was only ten, she had already begun to sport the affectations of a teenager. Greggy often teased his baby sister calling her âten-teen.â On the cover of âIngĂ©nueâ was a photo of Superboy. He has in flight, facing the camera with a broad grin. You could not help being almost hypnotized by Jamieâs big soft baby blue eyes. Carrie sighed. âI wonder if I would ever get to meet Superboy and if heâd even WANT to meet meâŠâ Jamie grinned at Carrie as he answered, âYou BET he would, Carrie! Cute as you are? Youâd better believe it!â As Carrie gazed at the cover of her teen girl magazine Greg laughed, âMy sister Carrie, meeting Superboy. Yeah, sure! Sheâs⊠Ten-TEEN! Sweet ten-teen anâ never been kissed yet! Sweet ten-teen and never been kissâŠâ Jamie flashed Greggy a pair of eyes, cold as ice. There was nothing âsoftâ in his âbaby bluesâ just then. Greg stopped mid-sentence. As he looked quizzically back at Jamie, softly, the boy of steel uttered only one word, âenough.â Greggy got the message. Carrie had seen it all. As she looked up from her magazine into Jamieâs eyes, the recognition hit her full in the face! Jamie! HE is Superboy! No WONDER I like Jamie so much. Heâs not âLIKEâ Superboy. He IS Superboy. Rather than blurt out her discovery as perhaps most 10 year old girls might, she kept it to herself. She leaned into Jamie and lightly bussed him on the cheek. She murmured softly, âThanks, uh, âJamie.ââ Jamie blushed bright red as Carrie giggled. She wasnât telling, but she couldnât resist the temptation to ânibble around the edgesâ of the secret. âYour so gallant, Jamie! You remind me of Superboy!â she whispered to him. At that, Jamie blushed even deeper red, if such were possible as Greggy registered a double take. There was brief but telling eye contact between Greg and Carrie as she glanced down at her magazine cover and back up at Jamie. Greg realized. âOh wow, Carrie has figured it out! She KNOWS!â Carrie was not telepathic; at least not yet. But she had always been VERY perceptive. She looked into her brotherâs eyes, winked and placed her right index finger before her lips in a âshushingâ gesture to reassure him and Jamie that she would not tell. Greggy and Jamie both sighed with relief. Jamie took Carrieâs left hand with his right, gently squeezed and mouthed a silent âthank you.â Carrie beamed back with a coquettish smile as she batted her long eyelashes at him. That set Jamie to blushing all over again. About three hours had passed when they caught their first glimpse of the Gulf Coast, as they along the southern shore of Northwest Florida. âLook over there!â Gregory cheered, pointing out the window. âThereâs the beach! I canât wait to go swimming, Jamie!â âYeah! Itâll be great! The weather is so nice right nowâŠâ Jamie grinned. âWell, I hope it stays that way, you guys!â Herb responded. Both Jamie and Gregory looked at Herb quizzically. âWhat do you mean by that, dad?â Greg asked his father. âWell, there is a tropical storm in the Gulf right nowâŠâ Herb replied. âThey were just talking about it on the radio.â Jamie and Greg stared at him, concerned. âYou mean⊠We might get some wind?â Greg asked. âYes, unless the storm stays well south of us. The weather bureau isnât sure where the storm might be headed.â âAs long as it stays far away from where weâll be at, itâll be fine by me!â Jamie said. âI hope soâ Herb added. âAccording to the weather report, the storm has grown in size and it might head this way. Itâs over Cuba right now. But, they still donât know yet where the storm will make landfall after that.â âSo⊠Does that mean we might be in for some rain?â Greg asked his dad. âYes. We might get more than rain from this storm, if it grows strongerâŠâ Herb explained. âThe worse case scenario would be that the storm grows into a hurricaneâŠâ âA⊠A hurricane?â Jamie gasped. To be continued My website contains my works of science fiction and fantasy. Check out my website at http://www.superfantasystories.com |