Story Process Essay: Lost Years
Writing Lost Years: An Exercise in World and Relationship Building
As with many fics, Lost Years began with a simple prompt.
Batman and Superman are stranded on a lonely planet and are lost for years before returning home. What happens? Universe is writer's choice.
The moment I saw it, a fire sparked in my brain. So much potential in those three little sentences, so many different directions a story like that could go. Of course, I snagged the prompt (part of the 2007 World's Finest Gift Exchange) as soon as I could, and set to plotting what has grown far beyond what I initially imagined.
The Gist of the Story
After a transporter accident in the midst of an epic battle deposits Clark and Bruce on an uninhabited planet light years away from anything recognizable, the two men realize they're stranded, with no way to get home, despite their many attempts. With Clark's powers gradually fading under the influence of an orange sun, they decide to make the best of their situation and build a house, eventually turning a large clearing into a fully-functioning farm, all the while growing surprisingly closer. They repeatedly clash as they build their farm, until an all-out argument ends with them coming together in a way that neither of them had predicted. As their relationship evolves, their farm grows, until several years have passed. When rescue eventually comes, Clark and Bruce are different men than when they were first stranded. Going home is more complicated than it should be.
A Lonely Planet
Where to begin? I could have dropped Clark and Bruce practically anywhere, from a desert planet, to a lush tropical jungle, to an abandoned world, crumbling after a world-wide catastrophe. Any of these would have been interesting, but with little personal knowledge of those sorts of environments, I did what any other writer might have done: I wrote what I knew. And what I know is temperate climates with deciduous forests, being a life-long resident of the eastern United States myself. This sort of climate would be easy to write about, not too difficult for Clark and Bruce to survive in, and easy to alter just slightly, to give it an alien feel.
My background in the biological sciences allowed me make subtle changes to distinguish this world from Earth, starting with the planet's primary source of energy. Under the influence of an orange sun, foliage became dark green ranging to purple, and Earth flora and fauna were given equivalents that may have evolved under parallel circumstances. A few of the many equivalents include almost-coffee beans, purple gourds that resemble pumpkins, small not-quite-deer, chicken-ducks that Clark and Bruce eventually keep in lieu of chickens, and stocky, shaggy woolly cows that are also eventually kept as livestock.
Outside of these subtle differences, I decided that an important aspect of the story should be how similar to Earth this place is, and how survival and everyday life there comes with its own slew of challenges. Clark and Bruce have to deal with poisonous animals, such as the ten-tentacled armored octopus, whose venom leaves Bruce in a coma for two weeks. They discover plants with healing properties, such as the pink-fleshed melon whose juice counteracts the venom of the armored octopus. They build a small log cabin in a large clearing. They're able to set up a farm, complete with livestock and crops, a small barn, a soap house, a smoke house, and eventually another large outbuilding to house their ever-expanding slew of projects. They even find cotton-like plants that they harvest to spin the fibers into thread for weaving into cloth for clothing, towels, and bedclothes. With one major exception that I discuss in the next section, pretty much anything that can be done on Earth can be done on this planet.
Clark and Bruce also have to deal with the elements. Seasons come and go, and with them, comes thunderstorms, wind, snow and bitter cold in the winter, and the heat of the sun in the middle of summer. Clark has the misfortune of taking the brunt of this world's severe weather, being struck by lightning, and later getting sunburned, but they both make the best of the situation, adding a fireplace and lightning rod onto their log cabin, wearing sun hats while working in the fields, and bundling up with hand-made winter wear to make excursions out into the snow.
The entire situation makes for a lot of work for them, pushing them to utilize their talents in new and different ways, drawing heavily upon Bruce's adaptability and methodical mindset, and Clark's special skills and background in farming. With this setting, I was able to use the challenges they face as a catalyst for change in both men and in their relationship.
Stranded
In building this world, I realized that there had to be things about this world that would keep our heroes from escaping, essentially imprisoning them. Knowing that Clark had to be more-or-less powerless, but not wanting to leave him completely defenseless, the first road block I put in place was to double the use of the orange sun as a plot device. Rather than have the orange sunlight sap his powers quickly, as red sunlight might, I decided to make it a slow decline. The higher energy powers, such as flight and heat vision, are the first to go, while the lower energy powers take much longer, and don't completely fade. This slow decline would give Clark and Bruce a clock to race against in the first few chapters, as they try to devise a way to get home. Naturally, Clark's flight finally fails just when they need it most.
The second road block I threw in was the presence of some sort of EM dampening field. No electronics of any kind will work on this world. This leaves the two men without any way to contact either the sector's Green Lantern or the Justice League, and it has afforded me plenty of options for keeping them essentially tethered to this world and living simply, once the inevitable happens to Clark. They can build no radios or transceivers, can never run electricity in their cabin, and their communicators will never work.
The third twist was a nasty trick, whose source I have yet to reveal in the story, though it is definitely known to me. Clark's attempt to fly out into space to try to get past the EM dampening field fails spectacularly, when he can't seem to reach the edge of it. It seems to go on forever, and with the addition of a few micrometeorites to puncture his air tank (yes, he still needed to breathe!), Clark is sent back to the uninhabited planet without being able to get out a message for help.
In putting together these particulars in a mad rush to get the first few chapters written, and establish Clark and Bruce's exile, I also ironed out exactly how they got to this world, yet another detail I have yet to reveal in the story. Clark and Bruce still have no idea. They don't know where they are, exactly how they got there, or why Clark is plagued by vague dreams about the League attempting to find them.
Combating the Loneliness
With the end goal of bringing Clark and Bruce together, I began by using the comics-verse versions of the characters, with the background of their experiences with the Justice League, working together as the World's Finest, and having left family behind: Alfred and the rest of the Bat Clan for Bruce, and Jonathan, Martha, Kara, and Lois (as a friend only) for Clark. Almost from the start, without their families or teammates to turn to, Clark and Bruce realize just how alone they are on this distant world, and how much they have to rely on each other if they want to survive. Their first few nights there are spent sleeping in a small lean-to, and then a slightly larger tent, where space is at a premium. Neither man is prepared for such close quarters, and it comes as a surprise to them both that they grow so accustomed to huddling together beneath deer skins to keep warm.
As it becomes clear that they're really stranded and that Clark is slowly losing his invulnerability, the two men begin to clash more and more, stressed and scared of feelings that are starting to come awake in both of them. Bruce becomes withdrawn, losing himself in plans to send a signal out into space with flipping mirrors and Morse Code, and Clark lashes out at him for it. This results in Bruce leaving to set up house in a nearby cave and build his Morse Code mirror system by himself while Clark continues to work on the cabin, adding a bathroom and proper indoor plumbing with remnants of their failed attempt at an escape spacecraft. The arrangement is doomed from the start, so when Bruce comes to his senses, he returns to Clark.
The men continue to argue, but when winter officially comes, it's a breakdown on both their parts that finally brings them together as lovers. From there, their relationship grows and evolves, and endures trials such as Bruce's two-week coma and subsequent long recovery from his injury, and Clark's long absence as his speed finally fails in the middle of a harvesting trip many hundreds of miles away. Things couldn't be easy for them, after all. They become each other's Kryptonian and Bat, committed to each other in all ways.
Besides themselves, Clark and Bruce form bonds with some of the animals around their farm. When a cat decides to bring her litter of kittens into their cabin to keep them safe, the men resign themselves to their fate, and wind up naming the small animals for their family and friends, as an unacknowledged attempt to honor those they left behind. While Clark is closest to the kittens Kara and Kon, Bruce becomes closest to the kitten Jay, named for his wayward son.
Eventually, there are horses as well, named Wally and Bart for their surprising speed, and one of the woolly cows, Bessie, even gives birth to several calves in the barn.
Developing a kinship with their animal companions comes with the natural conclusion, of course, and there is no shortage of grief when two of the cats are killed in a wolf attack. The animal graveyard behind the house slowly fills with lost friends as time passes.
The Passage of Time
As a twist, I decided to shift the seasonal cycle of this this world to several months off of the seasons of the Northern Hemisphere of Earth. When Clark and Bruce are stranded in June, it's early autumn on this world. Winter comes in September, and Thanksgiving and Christmas are celebrated in the spring. This provided another way to keep them on their toes, constantly seeing their lonely world and the culture they participated in at home in a different light.
As they celebrate holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries, Clark and Bruce still cling to their ties to Earth, finding sprigs of a holly-like tree to decorate with for Christmas, carving a large purple gourd like a jack-o-lantern, and preparing foods reminiscent of home-cooked holiday fare. Gifts are exchanged, and surprises are revealed to each other. And all the while, Bruce records the days and he and Clark both make journal entries using paper and ink they've made from scratch.
Identity
From the outset, I wanted a major part of the story to be about identity. Without Gotham, Metropolis, and the League as a background against which Clark and Bruce can be Superman and Batman, the two men are left with just their core selves. Their uniforms gradually wear thin, with Bruce's cowl being cut up and used for parts, and Clark's uniform shirt eventually given to the cats as bedding. The more of that outward identity they give away, the more they're stripped of the trappings that came with them. The gradual loss of Clark's powers is a more literal translation of the metaphor, as is Bruce's injury and long recovery. Neither man is able to retain the physical abilities they had at the beginning.
But once they've been stripped to their core selves by time and hardship, they find ways to regain their identities, as only the World's Finest can. Bruce develops a training regimen to get fit again, using the natural environment in lieu of a gym, and he helps Clark train when the Kryptonian's invulnerability finally gives out, teaching him techniques for pain management and strength training. They manage to bolster each other up when they get down on themselves, reminding each other why they are still Superman and Batman, even without the trappings of life as superheroes. Finding that balance between what they were and what they are now is a long road, but when they eventually find it, life seems to become easier for them.
After their rescue, however, finding their identities once again is just as difficult as it was on the lonely planet. Thankfully, they have each other to rely on as they make the transition back to life on Earth.
Plotty Influences
If you look closely, you can see that I drew from many sources in putting this story together. There's a little Swiss Family Robinson, some Lost, and even a hint of a few episodes of Stargate: Atlantis and Stargate: SG1 (if you can tell just which ones, you win a cookie). The essence of the story is just that archetypal: lost and alone, the heroes of the story have to rely on each other if they want to survive. They make the best of a stressful situation, using what they have at their disposal to get by, and their isolation changes them in fundamental ways. The situation forces the heroes to examine their inner selves, each other, and their relationship as it evolves. It's a more narrowly focused approach, especially with only two characters to write, but it makes for some pretty dramatic stuff.
Research
The research that's contributed to this story has ranged from species classification (to give Bruce a hand in his classification of the lonely planet's lifeforms), to soap-making, to how cows give birth. At the outset, I had to refresh my knowledge of how sunlight and pigments affect plant color, and how metals are mined and refined. I even had to research space suits, in order to have Clark and Bruce construct a helmet and air tank for Clark to wear on his ill-fated trip out into space.
I looked into building construction so they could build their cabin, clothing and fabrics so they could make clothes, brick-making so they could add their fireplace to the house, and first aid and medical procedures so Clark could take care of Bruce during his coma. Essentially, no stone was left unturned as I gathered background information on which to build the story.
Finishing Lost Years
As of the date of this posting, Lost Years is still a work-in-progress. While other plot bunnies and projects have occasionally grabbed me away and stolen my focus, this story has slowly grown from what should have been a roughly ten-chapter fic into what might become a twenty-four-chapter fic, currently at just over 53,000 words in the middle of chapter 15. Though that wasn't what I initially intended, I can't say I'm not pleased with how it's evolved. A few brief chapters have become an epic, with four distinct story arcs: their initial stranding until Clark loses his flight, the building of their farm until the two men become lovers, the years that pass (the longest arc, of course), and their eventual rescue and readjustment to life on Earth.
But writing this epic hasn't come without its own share of issues. Losing my focus to other projects, as well as the interference of real life, has led to long stretches of time passing between chapter postings, especially during the third arc. This third arc has also not been as easy to write, as Clark and Bruce face shorter-lived challenges and celebrate short periods of peaceful living. It's akin to writing a montage, where time passes quickly, and troubles come and go without causing irreparable damage to either the heroes or their relationship, a challenge in itself.
In the end, I'm hoping that the story will live up to the vision I have for it, and the characters will come full circle, as I've planned, but in the mean time, I've been honored to have wonderful readers who have encouraged me on a regular basis, and for the story to have won Best WIP in the World's Finest Awards two years running. Maybe next year, Lost Years can win in the Completed Story category! I can dream, anyway. :p
To all of you that have read the story, left wonderful comments, voted for it, and actually read this entire essay, you make my work on Lost Years absolutely worthwhile. Thank you!
* * * * *
From Part 4:
For a long moment, Bruce still doesn't let go. Instead he watches his companion in the little bit of moonlight peeking in through the end of the hut. Watches his breath swirling in the air above them. Watches his chest rising and falling beneath the not-quite-deer skins with the deep, even breath of sleep.
“I missed having you here when you were gone,” he confesses breathlessly, sure Clark can't hear him. “Hated not knowing if you would be here when I woke up. I...” His gut twists with the weight of it all. He never meant to get so... attached to his companion. “I don't care if we have to stay here for years, Clark. Just don't leave me alone again.”
Feeling like a total fool, he buries his face into the covers, slipping his arm beneath Clark's and around his waist, pulling him close to wait for the gradual encroaching of sleep.
Just when he's losing himself to the sweet oblivion of unconsciousness, the finally warm body next to him shifts, and a hand comes up to stroke his hair.
The broken voice is less than a whisper. “I won't. I promise.”
* * * * *
As with many fics, Lost Years began with a simple prompt.
Batman and Superman are stranded on a lonely planet and are lost for years before returning home. What happens? Universe is writer's choice.
The moment I saw it, a fire sparked in my brain. So much potential in those three little sentences, so many different directions a story like that could go. Of course, I snagged the prompt (part of the 2007 World's Finest Gift Exchange) as soon as I could, and set to plotting what has grown far beyond what I initially imagined.
The Gist of the Story
After a transporter accident in the midst of an epic battle deposits Clark and Bruce on an uninhabited planet light years away from anything recognizable, the two men realize they're stranded, with no way to get home, despite their many attempts. With Clark's powers gradually fading under the influence of an orange sun, they decide to make the best of their situation and build a house, eventually turning a large clearing into a fully-functioning farm, all the while growing surprisingly closer. They repeatedly clash as they build their farm, until an all-out argument ends with them coming together in a way that neither of them had predicted. As their relationship evolves, their farm grows, until several years have passed. When rescue eventually comes, Clark and Bruce are different men than when they were first stranded. Going home is more complicated than it should be.
A Lonely Planet
Where to begin? I could have dropped Clark and Bruce practically anywhere, from a desert planet, to a lush tropical jungle, to an abandoned world, crumbling after a world-wide catastrophe. Any of these would have been interesting, but with little personal knowledge of those sorts of environments, I did what any other writer might have done: I wrote what I knew. And what I know is temperate climates with deciduous forests, being a life-long resident of the eastern United States myself. This sort of climate would be easy to write about, not too difficult for Clark and Bruce to survive in, and easy to alter just slightly, to give it an alien feel.
My background in the biological sciences allowed me make subtle changes to distinguish this world from Earth, starting with the planet's primary source of energy. Under the influence of an orange sun, foliage became dark green ranging to purple, and Earth flora and fauna were given equivalents that may have evolved under parallel circumstances. A few of the many equivalents include almost-coffee beans, purple gourds that resemble pumpkins, small not-quite-deer, chicken-ducks that Clark and Bruce eventually keep in lieu of chickens, and stocky, shaggy woolly cows that are also eventually kept as livestock.
Outside of these subtle differences, I decided that an important aspect of the story should be how similar to Earth this place is, and how survival and everyday life there comes with its own slew of challenges. Clark and Bruce have to deal with poisonous animals, such as the ten-tentacled armored octopus, whose venom leaves Bruce in a coma for two weeks. They discover plants with healing properties, such as the pink-fleshed melon whose juice counteracts the venom of the armored octopus. They build a small log cabin in a large clearing. They're able to set up a farm, complete with livestock and crops, a small barn, a soap house, a smoke house, and eventually another large outbuilding to house their ever-expanding slew of projects. They even find cotton-like plants that they harvest to spin the fibers into thread for weaving into cloth for clothing, towels, and bedclothes. With one major exception that I discuss in the next section, pretty much anything that can be done on Earth can be done on this planet.
Clark and Bruce also have to deal with the elements. Seasons come and go, and with them, comes thunderstorms, wind, snow and bitter cold in the winter, and the heat of the sun in the middle of summer. Clark has the misfortune of taking the brunt of this world's severe weather, being struck by lightning, and later getting sunburned, but they both make the best of the situation, adding a fireplace and lightning rod onto their log cabin, wearing sun hats while working in the fields, and bundling up with hand-made winter wear to make excursions out into the snow.
The entire situation makes for a lot of work for them, pushing them to utilize their talents in new and different ways, drawing heavily upon Bruce's adaptability and methodical mindset, and Clark's special skills and background in farming. With this setting, I was able to use the challenges they face as a catalyst for change in both men and in their relationship.
Stranded
In building this world, I realized that there had to be things about this world that would keep our heroes from escaping, essentially imprisoning them. Knowing that Clark had to be more-or-less powerless, but not wanting to leave him completely defenseless, the first road block I put in place was to double the use of the orange sun as a plot device. Rather than have the orange sunlight sap his powers quickly, as red sunlight might, I decided to make it a slow decline. The higher energy powers, such as flight and heat vision, are the first to go, while the lower energy powers take much longer, and don't completely fade. This slow decline would give Clark and Bruce a clock to race against in the first few chapters, as they try to devise a way to get home. Naturally, Clark's flight finally fails just when they need it most.
The second road block I threw in was the presence of some sort of EM dampening field. No electronics of any kind will work on this world. This leaves the two men without any way to contact either the sector's Green Lantern or the Justice League, and it has afforded me plenty of options for keeping them essentially tethered to this world and living simply, once the inevitable happens to Clark. They can build no radios or transceivers, can never run electricity in their cabin, and their communicators will never work.
The third twist was a nasty trick, whose source I have yet to reveal in the story, though it is definitely known to me. Clark's attempt to fly out into space to try to get past the EM dampening field fails spectacularly, when he can't seem to reach the edge of it. It seems to go on forever, and with the addition of a few micrometeorites to puncture his air tank (yes, he still needed to breathe!), Clark is sent back to the uninhabited planet without being able to get out a message for help.
In putting together these particulars in a mad rush to get the first few chapters written, and establish Clark and Bruce's exile, I also ironed out exactly how they got to this world, yet another detail I have yet to reveal in the story. Clark and Bruce still have no idea. They don't know where they are, exactly how they got there, or why Clark is plagued by vague dreams about the League attempting to find them.
Combating the Loneliness
With the end goal of bringing Clark and Bruce together, I began by using the comics-verse versions of the characters, with the background of their experiences with the Justice League, working together as the World's Finest, and having left family behind: Alfred and the rest of the Bat Clan for Bruce, and Jonathan, Martha, Kara, and Lois (as a friend only) for Clark. Almost from the start, without their families or teammates to turn to, Clark and Bruce realize just how alone they are on this distant world, and how much they have to rely on each other if they want to survive. Their first few nights there are spent sleeping in a small lean-to, and then a slightly larger tent, where space is at a premium. Neither man is prepared for such close quarters, and it comes as a surprise to them both that they grow so accustomed to huddling together beneath deer skins to keep warm.
As it becomes clear that they're really stranded and that Clark is slowly losing his invulnerability, the two men begin to clash more and more, stressed and scared of feelings that are starting to come awake in both of them. Bruce becomes withdrawn, losing himself in plans to send a signal out into space with flipping mirrors and Morse Code, and Clark lashes out at him for it. This results in Bruce leaving to set up house in a nearby cave and build his Morse Code mirror system by himself while Clark continues to work on the cabin, adding a bathroom and proper indoor plumbing with remnants of their failed attempt at an escape spacecraft. The arrangement is doomed from the start, so when Bruce comes to his senses, he returns to Clark.
The men continue to argue, but when winter officially comes, it's a breakdown on both their parts that finally brings them together as lovers. From there, their relationship grows and evolves, and endures trials such as Bruce's two-week coma and subsequent long recovery from his injury, and Clark's long absence as his speed finally fails in the middle of a harvesting trip many hundreds of miles away. Things couldn't be easy for them, after all. They become each other's Kryptonian and Bat, committed to each other in all ways.
Besides themselves, Clark and Bruce form bonds with some of the animals around their farm. When a cat decides to bring her litter of kittens into their cabin to keep them safe, the men resign themselves to their fate, and wind up naming the small animals for their family and friends, as an unacknowledged attempt to honor those they left behind. While Clark is closest to the kittens Kara and Kon, Bruce becomes closest to the kitten Jay, named for his wayward son.
Eventually, there are horses as well, named Wally and Bart for their surprising speed, and one of the woolly cows, Bessie, even gives birth to several calves in the barn.
Developing a kinship with their animal companions comes with the natural conclusion, of course, and there is no shortage of grief when two of the cats are killed in a wolf attack. The animal graveyard behind the house slowly fills with lost friends as time passes.
The Passage of Time
As a twist, I decided to shift the seasonal cycle of this this world to several months off of the seasons of the Northern Hemisphere of Earth. When Clark and Bruce are stranded in June, it's early autumn on this world. Winter comes in September, and Thanksgiving and Christmas are celebrated in the spring. This provided another way to keep them on their toes, constantly seeing their lonely world and the culture they participated in at home in a different light.
As they celebrate holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries, Clark and Bruce still cling to their ties to Earth, finding sprigs of a holly-like tree to decorate with for Christmas, carving a large purple gourd like a jack-o-lantern, and preparing foods reminiscent of home-cooked holiday fare. Gifts are exchanged, and surprises are revealed to each other. And all the while, Bruce records the days and he and Clark both make journal entries using paper and ink they've made from scratch.
Identity
From the outset, I wanted a major part of the story to be about identity. Without Gotham, Metropolis, and the League as a background against which Clark and Bruce can be Superman and Batman, the two men are left with just their core selves. Their uniforms gradually wear thin, with Bruce's cowl being cut up and used for parts, and Clark's uniform shirt eventually given to the cats as bedding. The more of that outward identity they give away, the more they're stripped of the trappings that came with them. The gradual loss of Clark's powers is a more literal translation of the metaphor, as is Bruce's injury and long recovery. Neither man is able to retain the physical abilities they had at the beginning.
But once they've been stripped to their core selves by time and hardship, they find ways to regain their identities, as only the World's Finest can. Bruce develops a training regimen to get fit again, using the natural environment in lieu of a gym, and he helps Clark train when the Kryptonian's invulnerability finally gives out, teaching him techniques for pain management and strength training. They manage to bolster each other up when they get down on themselves, reminding each other why they are still Superman and Batman, even without the trappings of life as superheroes. Finding that balance between what they were and what they are now is a long road, but when they eventually find it, life seems to become easier for them.
After their rescue, however, finding their identities once again is just as difficult as it was on the lonely planet. Thankfully, they have each other to rely on as they make the transition back to life on Earth.
Plotty Influences
If you look closely, you can see that I drew from many sources in putting this story together. There's a little Swiss Family Robinson, some Lost, and even a hint of a few episodes of Stargate: Atlantis and Stargate: SG1 (if you can tell just which ones, you win a cookie). The essence of the story is just that archetypal: lost and alone, the heroes of the story have to rely on each other if they want to survive. They make the best of a stressful situation, using what they have at their disposal to get by, and their isolation changes them in fundamental ways. The situation forces the heroes to examine their inner selves, each other, and their relationship as it evolves. It's a more narrowly focused approach, especially with only two characters to write, but it makes for some pretty dramatic stuff.
Research
The research that's contributed to this story has ranged from species classification (to give Bruce a hand in his classification of the lonely planet's lifeforms), to soap-making, to how cows give birth. At the outset, I had to refresh my knowledge of how sunlight and pigments affect plant color, and how metals are mined and refined. I even had to research space suits, in order to have Clark and Bruce construct a helmet and air tank for Clark to wear on his ill-fated trip out into space.
I looked into building construction so they could build their cabin, clothing and fabrics so they could make clothes, brick-making so they could add their fireplace to the house, and first aid and medical procedures so Clark could take care of Bruce during his coma. Essentially, no stone was left unturned as I gathered background information on which to build the story.
Finishing Lost Years
As of the date of this posting, Lost Years is still a work-in-progress. While other plot bunnies and projects have occasionally grabbed me away and stolen my focus, this story has slowly grown from what should have been a roughly ten-chapter fic into what might become a twenty-four-chapter fic, currently at just over 53,000 words in the middle of chapter 15. Though that wasn't what I initially intended, I can't say I'm not pleased with how it's evolved. A few brief chapters have become an epic, with four distinct story arcs: their initial stranding until Clark loses his flight, the building of their farm until the two men become lovers, the years that pass (the longest arc, of course), and their eventual rescue and readjustment to life on Earth.
But writing this epic hasn't come without its own share of issues. Losing my focus to other projects, as well as the interference of real life, has led to long stretches of time passing between chapter postings, especially during the third arc. This third arc has also not been as easy to write, as Clark and Bruce face shorter-lived challenges and celebrate short periods of peaceful living. It's akin to writing a montage, where time passes quickly, and troubles come and go without causing irreparable damage to either the heroes or their relationship, a challenge in itself.
In the end, I'm hoping that the story will live up to the vision I have for it, and the characters will come full circle, as I've planned, but in the mean time, I've been honored to have wonderful readers who have encouraged me on a regular basis, and for the story to have won Best WIP in the World's Finest Awards two years running. Maybe next year, Lost Years can win in the Completed Story category! I can dream, anyway. :p
To all of you that have read the story, left wonderful comments, voted for it, and actually read this entire essay, you make my work on Lost Years absolutely worthwhile. Thank you!
* * * * *
From Part 4:
For a long moment, Bruce still doesn't let go. Instead he watches his companion in the little bit of moonlight peeking in through the end of the hut. Watches his breath swirling in the air above them. Watches his chest rising and falling beneath the not-quite-deer skins with the deep, even breath of sleep.
“I missed having you here when you were gone,” he confesses breathlessly, sure Clark can't hear him. “Hated not knowing if you would be here when I woke up. I...” His gut twists with the weight of it all. He never meant to get so... attached to his companion. “I don't care if we have to stay here for years, Clark. Just don't leave me alone again.”
Feeling like a total fool, he buries his face into the covers, slipping his arm beneath Clark's and around his waist, pulling him close to wait for the gradual encroaching of sleep.
Just when he's losing himself to the sweet oblivion of unconsciousness, the finally warm body next to him shifts, and a hand comes up to stroke his hair.
The broken voice is less than a whisper. “I won't. I promise.”
* * * * *