Cosmic Kid Series
2. REBORN
There was no time, only the mild idea of it as his feet began to feel cramped in the pod. Nourishment was provided, so he remained healthy and safe and warm within his space womb. There was no fear or pain, but there was no joy either. Just endless darkness into which many of his memories slipped.
“Ka-Well,” he sometimes whispered trying to retain a memory of the woman who’d said it to him so many times. But she only remained as an imprint, idea, a feeling.
He welcomed the rumble when it came. He welcomed the change. And then suddenly there was light. He crawled out into this brightness with joy, out of his blankets, away from his attachments to the pod. He fell at first, his legs having to re-adjust to being used, but he was on his feet soon enough. He was free, but he was alone. He looked for mother, he looked for father. There was much noise, but it was distant. He saw something small and furry running across the ground and followed it. And it was then he came upon a large pod like thing. Had they come here as he had? He knelled down and looked inside.
People! A man and woman! They looked at him and he smiled.
“Who are you?” the woman questioned.
“Probably a lost child,” the man said.
“We live in Smallville, we know most of the kids. I’ve never seen him before.”
“Ka-Well,” he said. It was the only word he remembered. His comfort word.
‘Can they get out?’ the boy wondered for they didn’t move. He grabbed the door and pulled. It opened easily and the woman tumbled out. The man crawled out behind her. They studied each other for awhile.
“Ka-Well,” the boy said again.
“What did he say?”
“Kawall I think. I don’t know what it means, but it seems to be the only thing he can say. He doesn’t have a stitch of clothing on.”
He wanted them to understand who he was, that he had fallen here like them. So he ran off toward the pod.
“Wait little boy,” the man said. And they both ran after him.
He stopped in front of the pod and looked up at the two people. They looked surprised to see his pod. He touched some markings on his surface and repeated, “Ka-Well”.
“Is the ship called Kawall, is it where he came from?” the man asked.
“I don’t know,” the woman said. She reached in and picked up the blanket. Then she wrapped him in it and lifted him up.
“Where did you come from?” she asked.
He looked up and then they looked up. He wasn’t really responding to the question, he just wanted to look at the sky again.
“So you came from the sky?” the woman questioned.
To all the words he didn’t understand, his response could only be a smile.
“I think we should get him home,” the woman said. “It’s going to be crazy out here soon.”
“Home?” the man questioned. “Honey, he’s not our child.”
“That ships not equipped for a return flight is it?”
“Not that I can tell”
“Then wherever he came from, he’s not going back and he needs someone to take care of him. He came to us Jonathan.”
The man looked unsure.
“When we talked to the adoption people, we said we’d take any child who needs us. He needs us.”
He looked at the boy and the boy looked at him.
“He has such brilliant eyes, doesn’t he?” the man questioned patting him affectionately. “Take him home,” the man said. “I have to figure out what to do with this.”
“Thank you honey,” she said leaving with the boy.
Suddenly there were new colors and sounds and lights. And smells, glorious smells everywhere. As soon as she put him on the floor he ran around looking at everything.
“Little Boy,” the woman called.
Boy? Was that him he wondered. He stopped exploring and walked back up to her.
“Boy?” he question. The first word he’d spoken to her besides Ka-well.
“Yes, you’re a boy,” the woman said. “I suppose you need an actual name though. We’ll figure that out when your dad gets home.”
They stared at each other for awhile.
“You need something to wear,” she said taking his hand and walking him into a room with two big white machines and various piles of clothing. She pulled out a T-shirt and slipped it over his head. It fell to his knees.
“That will have to do for now,” the woman said.
He smiled, tugging at his shirt if only to feel it in his hands.
He was eating some homemade cookies and sitting cross-legged on the floor when the man returned. He had never tasted such things before. He liked this woman, she was nice, and he was happy.
“Has he eaten any real food?” the man questioned as he came to sit beside the woman.
“Listen to you,” the woman said. “You already sound like a father.”
“Do I?” he looked down at the quiet boy enchanted by his cookie.
“Has he said anything besides that weird word?”
“Yes,” she replied. “He said ‘Boy’. I called him boy and he was asking me if he was a boy.”
“Ka-Well,” the little boy said looking up at them. “Boy.”
“Think we’ll be good parents.”
“Someone could come for him. We can’t get attached.”
“He’s a baby honey,” she said. “It’s hard not to get attached. But if we tell anyone where he came from–”
“I know. He’s our responsibility, but we’ll have to keep it quiet for awhile till I can make it look like a formal adoption.”
“How long do you think it will take?”
“A few days I guess. It would be best if we waited as long as possible before telling anyone. It would be strange if right after this meteor incident we showed up on the streets with a child.”
This conversation only registered in the back of the boys mind as he caught sight of something beautiful. It was a crystal clear statue of a woman with wings. It fascinated him. He got up and toddled over to it. It was too high to reach so he started to climb–
CRASH !!!!
The man and woman were by his side in seconds. The imprint of fear returned with the noise and he cried. The woman lifted him off the broken cabinet’s bed of glass and had him in her arms comforting him in seconds.
“Guess we’re going to have to baby proof,” she said as she examined his body for marks.
“Do we have to take him to the hospital?” Jonathan asked.
Her eyes widened in shock. “He’s just upset. There’s not one cut on him Jonathan, not one cut. He was laying on glass, sharp pieces of glass.”
Jonathan examined the boy himself.
“What are you, some kid of Super kid?” the man asked.
He wasn’t crying, but he was still upset. The woman whispered tenderly, he was comforted, and soon he calmed.
“He needs a name,” the woman said.
“Why don’t we give him the name talked about giving our son anyway?”
“Clark?”
“Yeah, Clark Kent.”
“Sounds right. Welcome to our family Clark Kent. Welcome to your new life.”
They both hugged him and kissed him and the imprints of Mother and father returned to him. And then he knew love and everything that came before began to fade.
