Drive

     As much as Clark loved flying, he wasn't able to do that much during daylight, so he spent a lot of time walking. He never felt tired, so walking was almost as effortless as flying for him—just anchored to the ground. In any case, the winter clouds over Kansas were breaking up, so he could enjoy soaking up the sun's rays without going above cloud level. Today, he felt like taking a path he normally avoided. A long curved road went over a 150-foot-high dam—the only one in Smallville's area. Clark felt uneasy every time he went over it as a child—because he was afraid of heights, or so he thought. But that had been well before Clark learned of his flight ability. Now he wanted to test himself.

     Clark walked to the center of the dam, leaned over the railing and felt his stomach sink.

He was surprised at himself. He didn't feel afraid, but... wait. He was never afraid of the height. He felt sick because there were meteor rocks nearby.
     Clark looked everywhere, focusing his vision as best he could. He always had unusually keen eyes, but never knew if that was because he was young or because he was Kryptonian. He scanned the waters below the dam... bingo. As Clark focused harder, he could see past the surface of the water into the riverbed. Large chunks of meteor, with exposed green crystals glowing, were sitting calmly at the bottom. They'd probably been there since the meteor shower. Clark started to feel worse—apparently the effect of the radiation was cumulative—but before he left he decided to test something. He was safe here, for the moment, after all.

     Clark picked up a rock from the road and squeezed it. He felt a surge of pain as he did, but kept going. He struggled for a moment, but eventually the rock crumbled.

     So, he thought, my powers don't actually fade when I'm near the rocks. They're just harder to use.

     Clark turned to leave when suddenly he saw an oncoming car barreling down the road, its driver nowhere to be seen. Clark focused his eyes and somehow saw someone inside the car, leaning down to grab something that had fallen over. As the driver leaned back up he bumped the steering wheel, sending the car swerving out of its lane and straight into Clark—and off the edge of the dam, a hundred and fifty feet in the air.