The Frozen Lake
Winter had come early that year.
Snow blanketed the small town of Fairview, Montana, turning rooftops into sheets of white. The air was sharp and unforgiving. The lake near the edge of town had frozen over, as it always did.
Ethan Carter barely felt the cold.
He stood beside his father, stacking firewood in neat, methodical piles. The weight of the logs should have strained his muscles, but it never did. He had learned to fake effort, to make his movements appear normal. His father never questioned it. People in Fairview were simple, and simple folks didn't ask questions unless they had to.
But then, a scream cut through the quiet.
Ethan's head snapped toward the sound. A mother—panicked, desperate—stood near the lake, her hands trembling as she pointed toward the ice.
A little girl had wandered too far.
Cracks webbed beneath her feet. Then—she plunged into the water.
Ethan dropped the firewood and ran.
Not at full speed—not like he could.
But faster than any normal person.
By the time he reached the lake, a small crowd had gathered. The mother was crying, frozen in terror. A man—probably the girl's father—was about to step onto the ice when Ethan grabbed his arm.
"It won't hold," Ethan said.
The man turned, his face twisted with desperation. "She's drowning!"
Ethan didn't hesitate.
He pulled off his jacket and ran onto the ice.
Each step was careful, measured. Even though he could have walked across without any real risk, he forced himself to move like a normal person.
The water was dark. The girl's tiny hands splashed weakly above the surface.
Without thinking, Ethan jumped in.
The cold hit him instantly. It would have paralyzed a normal person. But his body barely registered the temperature.
He reached the girl in seconds. She was struggling, her lips already turning blue.
"I got you," he said, wrapping an arm around her.
He kicked off the bottom of the lake and surfaced, gasping as he pulled the child into his arms.
The crowd cheered.
He forced himself to move slowly as he dragged them both onto the ice, breaking it further as he climbed out. He stumbled—just a little—to make it look real.
Then, the girl's mother was there, sobbing as she wrapped her daughter in a coat.
Ethan stood, shaking off the cold.
"You okay?" he asked.
The girl, still shivering, nodded weakly.
The crowd clapped him on the back. Some called him a hero.
But Ethan?
He just clenched his fists.
Because he hadn't saved Krypton.
Because for all his power, he had failed before.
Because one day, there would be something bigger than a frozen lake.
And he needed to be ready.