Unfair World

By:Batgirl

Rating: PG

Summary: Reflection on a lost soul. Superman looses someone close to him and nothing seems to be easing his pain.

Note: I decided to write this after reading Superman #188. The story was too touching NOT to write something on…

Disclaimer: Superman and all other related characters are property of DC comics and their respected creators!

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Any one person can indeed change one’s life. However in my life there's been more than one. Be it that they may have been dubbed as "good" or "evil", everyone has contributed. It doesn’t matter who they are or what their stature is in life, EVERYONE.

Be it a person you pass on the streets every day, or a co-worker you see and talk to everyday. The depths of society have pushed so many and so much away, we often don’t recognize the little things others do for us.

A simple, “Hello. How ya doin’?” can go a long ways for some people. I’ve had my share of bad days, and while walking home some woman would smile and say, “Nice day we’re having, isn’t it? Have a good day.” Sometimes, that’s all you need to have that bad day turn good.

There’s been so many people in my life that I consider friends and allies, and then there are those that I see as enemies.

Lois, Jimmy, Lana, Bruce, Diana… they’re the ones who seem to be on the side of “good”. Lex Luthor… as well as a few multiple others are the ones who seem to be on the opposing side.

Even thought Bruce and I don’t get along all too well, I know, as a fact, that he is on the side of the light. Even though, he tends to stay in the shadow’s darkness.

Lex is another story. To the world, he’s an all around good guy. No one SEES what kind of man he really is. I do. He’s a capitalist thief, a murderer, embezzler, cheating… and the list can go on and on. He may be President of the United States, but he can’t wear HIS mask forever.

Sometimes… I just don’t understand while the world has to be so cruel. School kids pick on those who are stronger and weaker or just because they talk a different way or dress a different way. Those kids often end up hating themselves for those years. Wishing that those bullies who picked on them would die and never see the light of day again. Often times, the bulling gets so bad, it drives a kid to suicide.

It’s a sad thought that the world has to be so unforgiving and that other kids can’t respect others for who they really are.

Every week or so I make trips around to the local hospitals and make visits to the children’s ward. I don’t do it because someone’s making me, and I don’t do because I want the publicity (I could honestly care less about that), but I do it because it actually makes me FEEL good. If you’ve ever seen a smile on a child’s face that made YOU smile… you’d know the feeling.

It’s such a wonderful feeling… It’s too bad one can’t feel that great all the time. It seems like one really can’t feel that kind of happiness twenty-four /seven. There’s always SOMEthing holding you back. Whether it be emotional pain or physical, there’s always something in your way.

While visiting the hospital I came across a little homeless girl who had cancer. Her name was Jamie, and she had been going through weeks of chemo to treat the cancer cells within her. This little girl…. She was so amazing. The courage she showed, the love she showed…. It was such a wonderful and touching thing to see in a child so young.

The wisdom that she carries with her was beyond anything I had witnessed before. Her love for literature and animals and myself were the things that continued to keep her going.

It’s… kind of SWEET if you looked at it. Every time I entered the room her arms would be held open, waiting for a hug for from me. Of course, I’d give her one every time I greeted her or left her. Even when she was at her weakest, she’d hold out her arms waiting for me.

“You know, Superman…” she told me one time. “You DO know I’m your BIGGEST fan, don’t ya?”

“How could I not?” I winked.

She was the sweetest little girl I’ve ever met. Her manners, her personality... Everything about her just brightened up my day. Especially that smile of hers.

“How are you feeling today, Jamie?”

“GREAT! Now that you’re here.”

I could only smile in response to that. I knew she was in pain, I was previously told by the doctors that she was on a new type of experimental pain medication TO stop the pain she was going through.

“No pain?”

She shied away a bit and hid her face.

“Jamie….? If you’re hurting, let me help you? I can get one of the nurses to get you something for the pain.”

“I… don’t want it.”

“You… don’t?”

“No, because they make me sleepy. I don’t want to go to sleep. It’s not ‘lights out’ time yet. And it would be rude to sleep if you’re here talking to me.”

“You know I wouldn’t mind. I’d still stay here with you.”

She leaned back. The pain in her eyes seemed to be growing. You could see how weakened she was becoming from everything. Yet, she wouldn’t let the weakness show on the outside. “Wanna see something scary, Superman??”

I smiled just a bit, watching her. “SURE.” I looked around the room, “searching” for the scary SOMETHING. “Where’s it at?”

She giggled just faintly. “You have to close your eyes first.”

“Oh.” I closed my eyes. “Okay.”

“NO peeking!”

I could hear rustling around for those few moments, I could only wonder what she was doing. “Can I open them now??”

“Mmhmm!”

I opened my eyes.

“RARRRRRRRRRRH!!!!!!!!”

To be honest I really WAS startled. I jumped back. The fake vampire teeth and scary “monster” face WERE a little much, but they got the job done. “Whoa!”

She smiled weakly. “I got you!”

“You sure did.”

She leaned back a bit, seeming to be somewhat out of breath.

I gently took her hand and rubbed it before kissing it, I knew what she must have been going through. If there was only a way to take away all the hurt in her world, maybe she’d be just THAT much more comfortable.

My eyes wondered up to hers, the lively glow that was there suddenly vanished. ‘Oh no…’ “Jamie…?”

For as much life as she had within her, she stared death in its face. She didn’t let her weakness nor her illness pull her down.

I gently pulled her into a hug, I couldn’t hear her heartbeat, any signs of life…. Nothing. How could I leave her after spending so much time with her? I couldn’t—just couldn’t understand.

One of the nurses came in and I gently set Jamie’s body down into the bed.

“Superman… I’m so sorry….” She knew the bond I had with her, as did I.

It took me more than hour to leave the room, even after they took her out of the room. It took me that instant, even though I’ve known before, life IS and always will be precious. But the understanding of why some live and others don’t surpasses me.

“Robbery in the eleventh division. This is Maggie Sawyer—we’re requesting immediate back up! MAN DOWN! I repeat MAN DOWN!”

My superhearing never fails to catch something at the worst of times. I knew what I had to do.

Taking flight I pushed myself out of the hospital and made my way downtown.

Even weeks later the thought of her is still on my mind, and my questions still have gone unanswered.

Criminals thoughtlessly pull out guns and start shooting at random people. Some are hit with minor wounds, others are hit fatally. Why the hell do others get off so easily and others just—ARUGH. It sickens me. Sickens me to a point where beating them half to death is a good thing.

Those ones who commit the senseless acts—they’re the ones that need to suffer. And they need to suffer just as badly as they made their victims suffer.

I’ve made sure I’ve gotten my point across. I’m tired of this “goody-goody” act. I’ve played it too long.

I’m going to do what Batman and Flash do. Annoy them with terrible puns while beating them senseless.

Even after Lois found out about Jamie, even after the comforting, nothing seems to take the pain away. Nothing’s fair in the world— or in the universe for that matter. Nothing at all.