"Chris, it's time for dinner."

"Just a minute, Mom. I'll just finish this chapter."

Chris Donnelly loved to read. His parents recognized his love for reading, although neither of them cared much for books themselves. His father Darren was a construction worker in Portland, Oregon, and a caring, Christian man with strong beliefs. He supported his wife and four children despite various setbacks, including losing his job for six months. He worked part-time jobs to keep the family afloat.

Andrea Donnelly was a housewife through and through. She had been raised to believe that a woman's job was to raise her children and take care of the home, and she never approved of the radical feminism that many of her high school friends had embraced. Darren married her two years after they both graduated from high school, and they were very happy.

Chris was the youngest, with two older sisters, Jessica and Kathleen, and a brother Todd, who grew up living his father's dream of playing professional baseball. Chris was never the athletic type, but he and his brother got along well enough. Todd, three years older, made sure that people left his little brother alone.

For his fifth birthday, Chris was taken to the library for the first time. There he discovered his passion for books. He read books on every subject, but he especially loved stories and history. He spent much of his free time for the next several years in the recesses of the library, absorbing tales of great kings and heroes of the past. He also read the Bible, and as soon as he was able, took over reading the nightly passage duty that his father had previously held. When he was nine, his parents somehow saved up enough money to buy the family an encyclopedia.

 Darren taught all his children the values of hard work and sacrifice, and the message came through clearly to Chris when his father was laid off due to cutbacks in the early 80's. Darren kept working, doing whatever he could find until he found another construction job. It was a lean year, but the whole family pitched in to keep everything going.

In high school, Chris excelled in History and English, and taught himself basic Latin and Greek. He wasn't as good at math and science, and worked hard to improve his grades. In his junior year, however, he realized early on that he was going to need help in math, and asked for a tutor.

Stephanie Michaels was a science whiz, one of the brightest the school had seen for many years. She had won the school science fair every year since her first, and had already received scholarship offers from several prestigious universities. However, she wasn't much of a student of the humanities, and her grades in english and history were slipping. Concerned for her university career, her parents insisted she get a tutor.

It didn't take long for the guidance counsellors to put two and two together, and Chris and Stephanie were soon tutoring each other. The combination worked, and both excelled that year.

During the summer, they continued to see each other; there was an attraction from the beginning, despite their opposite temperaments. They enjoyed watching movies, although Stephanie's tastes ran toward science fiction films, while Chris preferred comedies or films based on classic books. They could always agree on romantic comedies, however, and grew closer all the time.

The relationship continued through their senior year, and they both graduated with honors and with scholarships. Stephanie was going to Harvard, while Chris was going to San Francisco to study English Lit and the Classics. He planned to become a teacher, hoping to give others the love of reading he had always felt.

College life wasn't very exciting, and he spent a lot more time studying than partying, unlike most of his housemates. He saw Stephanie every summer in Montana, and they wrote quite a few letters while they were away.

 Meanwhile, Todd got a major league tryout with the Chicago White Sox, and made the team. However, two years later he was traded to St. Louis in the National League in a blockbuster deal with five other players. He did even better in the NL, and is now the starting left fielder for the Cardinals. Whenever they played in San Francisco, Chris managed to get tickets to every game. These visits also enabled him to update Todd on what was happening with the rest of the family, since he was on the road so much.

After graduating with honors in English, Classics and History, Chris went for his teaching credential. He had come to like San Francisco in the years he had been there, and he was eager to start working. Unfortunately, teachers weren't in high demand, and he was unable to obtain full-time teacher's work. Undaunted, he put his name in as a substitute, and continued to study on his own. 

After a year of this, he returned to Montana for the summer, where he was reunited with Stephanie, who had just completed her Masters in Biophysics. She had landed a position with the San Francisco branch of Duchess Industries, and Chris was ecstatic that she would be joining him there. They spent a weekend in the mountains away from their families, and on the second night, Chris proposed to Stephanie. 

Before she could reply, she noticed something falling from the sky. It was a shooting star...or was it? It seemed to be getting larger, almost like a meteor...and it was coming toward them...

 Chris reacted first, grabbing Stephanie and pulling her along. They ran as fast as they could, but when Chris turned to see where it was, he saw that somehow it had changed direction; it was still falling right at them!

 He never knew what caused him to say what he said next. "Split up!" he shouted, and shoved Stephanie toward some heavy boulders. He turned and ran the other way, but there was only open terrain. He saw the meteorite falling at a point between the two of them. As he pondered the utter impossibility of it, the meteorite struck and exploded.

 Chris was bathed in energies that wracked his body with pain. He fell, and felt himself bathed in flames. He rolled around, trying to put out the fire-

 But he wasn't burning. The flames didn't hurt. In fact, he felt energized by them. He felt better than he ever had before. He watched his body transform, growing more massive and muscular, and he could feel himself getting taller. Standing, he felt an incredible surge of power, and he had to release it! A jet of flame shot into the sky, reaching like a beacon for the stars.

 Staggered, he couldn't comprehend the magnitude of what had happened. Somehow, the meteor had given him super-powers! He had never even dreamed about what he would do if he ever got powers. But what had it done to Stephanie?

 Running over to her, he didn't question how he was able to move so fast. He found her hunched down behind a boulder, whimpering in terror. "It's okay, Steph. It's over."

 She didn't recognize him. He was so different! He had gained at least eight inches in height, and was built like a body builder. It took several minutes for him to convince her of who he was.

 "I want my Chris back," she said plaintively, "not you."

Chris agreed; he wanted his regular body, much as he liked the obvious advantages of this one. As he thought about it, he felt himself change again. The pain returned, though not as intensely as when it first happened. After about ten seconds, he collapsed, back to his normal size.

They sat down to consider what Chris should do with his powers. Chris had always admired heroes, comparing them to the mythological heroes of old. He felt that his powers were a gift, perhaps even a sign from God. Stephanie agreed that he should use them for good, although she was concerned about his identity remaining a secret.

"After all," she said, "if you're going to be a hero, you don't want the bad guys coming after your wife, do you?"

They moved to San Francisco in August, and rented a house as close to Stephanie's job as they could afford. Chris continued looking for full-time teaching work, but realized that if he were to become a superhero, he would have a hard time holding down a regular job. But Stephanie's income wasn't enough for two people, and he had to work. He continued substituting, but the money wasn't what they had hoped for. Dreams of steak or lamb dinners had to wait while they subsisted on chicken and spaghetti meals, but they kept their spirits up; there were a lot of people in worse straits than they.

They have no pets, but they'd like a dog. Having grown up in the 80's, they like New Wave music, like Depeche Mode. They've got a two bedroom house, with one bedroom currently being used as a library. Chris has an extensive collection of books, naturally enough. Stephanie's also set up a small lab in the basement, but she doesn't do much there. It's basically for harmless experiments, and it's set up like a mini-high school chem lab.

Chris and Stephanie aren't married yet; they plan to be married in the summer, back in Montana. They're living together as common law, though. Steph's engagement ring is gold with a diamond and a sapphire embedded; she was born in September, and it's her birthstone. They keep in close touch with their families, and they may be having a double wedding in the summer; Jessica is engaged as well, to a local rancher.