THE SUPERWOMAN FROM KRYPTON

THE ETERNAL COURSE. PART VI

October 25, 1948. Metropolis

Lucy, Jimmy, and Clara were laughing after eating together at a diner in 90-west street.

"Remember when Steve Lombard accidentally broke Katz's nose with a baseball?"

"How mean you are, Lucy," Clara laughed.

"Oh, please, Clara, you'd be the first one to break Katz's nose," Jimmy joked.

"Katz is too close to Louis," Lucy said mischievously.

"You are the Witch of the West today, Lucy."

"We're not in Kansas anymore!"

Clara smiled as she looked at her two friends. She was happy to work and hang out with them. And it was true that she didn't like Katz. He was a very disrespectful guy, and even once she had heard him make obscene comments about her. In revenge, Clara had heated his coffee with her heat vision until she heard him scream from a very slight burn. They had spent the morning in court. Clara hated doing court reporting, but Cat Grant, taking advantage of Louis' absence, had sent her to interview judges and prosecutors up for re-election. Jimmy and Lucy had spent the night as crime photographers, taking pictures of their friend as Superwoman while she was stopping criminals and avoiding accidents. Clara looked at them amused. The two photographers were exhausted and had crossed paths with Clara half a dozen times during the night, but they were not aware of it.

"Clara darling, you hardly ever look tired."

"I'm one of the shortest but most restful sleepers in the world," the journalist boasted, "That's a privilege I have as a farm girl!"

Jimmy tapped the table.

"Well, who are you finally voting for?"

"You know damn well, Truman. The economy is good, he doesn't want a war with the USSR like many of Dewey's allies, plus he's been able to tame the Southern Democrats and push for civil rights," Lucy replied.

"You're not thinking of voting for Wallace?"

"Jimmy, for the umpteenth time, I'm not a communist and I don't hate Superwoman."

Jimmy snorted.

"He's not a communist."

"I don't care, communists will vote for him. And he does hate Superwoman."

"Yeah, I'm undecided. I'd vote for Wallace if it weren't for the Superwoman issue," Jimmy countered with a funny voice.

"Clara, you're not voting for Dewey, are you?"

"Maybe she is. Clara spends her days with Dewey's clone."

"Louis is better looking."

Clara smiled at them.

"I'm voting for Truman for the same reasons Lucy said. I like Dewey a lot, but I don't like the top names in the GOP and civil and labor rights are essential for me...but no apprehension. My mother is voting for Dewey, Louis is voting for Dewey, Cat Grant, Lombard, Katz, Mailer...as for me, I think I'll vote Liberal for Mayor, Democrat for Congress, and Republican for the Senate."

"There's not much to it. We work for a newspaper that has a bias. Even my father, who is an old liberal, is going to vote for Dewey. My father is very emotionally invested in this election, although if Dewey loses, I don't think he'll have as bad a time as he had when Willkie lost in the '40 election."

"I have a hard time imagining Louis and Cat voting the same way as Perry."

"Didn't Louis get upset about your vote, Clara?"