That evening, the whole family sat together neatly around the dinner table.
"Carol, let’s go into town tomorrow and have some fun," Daniel said.
"Okay!" Carol agreed instantly. She loved going out more than anything.
"But what made you suddenly want to go into town?" Carol asked curiously. "Don’t you usually like staying at home?"
Normally, Daniel barely stepped outside. Mary and John had worried about that for a long time.
"I just want to go out for a walk," Daniel replied. "And tomorrow, I’m treating you to food. I’m finally using all my savings!"
"Whoa!"
Carol’s eyes practically lit up. She had been eyeing Daniel’s little stash of money for ages.
"That’s amazing! Tomorrow’s gonna be another perfect day!"
"Boys should spend more time outside," John said approvingly from the side.
"Then it’s settled. We’re going to town tomorrow," Daniel said.
"Yay..."
...
After dinner, they spent some time relaxing before heading back to their rooms.
"Good night, Daniel."
"Good night."
After their usual exchange, they quickly fell asleep.
A peaceful night passed.
The next morning, Daniel woke up naturally.
For once, Carol didn’t come to disturb him. Today Daniel was her personal sponsor. She wasn’t stupid.
Only if Daniel was happy could she enjoy herself properly too.
A dedicated freeloader always wins in the end.
After getting dressed, washing up, eating breakfast, and packing a few things, Daniel and Carol prepared to head out.
"Be careful on the road. Watch out for cars," Mary reminded them. "Carol, take care of your little brother."
"Don’t worry!" Carol patted her chest confidently, looking extremely reliable. "Leave it to me! We’re gonna have an awesome day!"
"You absolutely must be careful!" Mary continued anxiously. "Actually... Maybe I should go with you two? I don’t have anything to do today anyway."
"There’s no need for you to do that mom," Carol rejected her immediately.
What a joke.
If Mary came along, she’d stop them from eating this and forbid them from buying that. It would be a nightmare.
No freedom at all.
"Alright then."
After thinking it over, Mary finally decided to let the siblings go by themselves.
Still, she repeated another round of reminders about staying safe.
Parents everywhere shared the same worries.
After saying goodbye to Mary, Carol grabbed Daniel’s hand and skipped happily toward the center of town.
Their house was located in the southwest corner of Smallville, so it took them more than ten minutes to walk there.
With Carol chattering cheerfully the entire way, they arrived before long.
This was the only real entertainment area in Smallville.
Compared to the rest of the town, it was fairly lively. There were more people around too, mostly local residents. In a small town like this, everyone knew everyone.
"Well, look who’s here! Carol’s back in town again?"
A bearded man called out to them. It was Uncle Aaron.
"Yep, Uncle Aaron!" Carol answered brightly.
"And behind you is your little brother Daniel, right?" Aaron asked.
"Well, this is rare. Daniel the Sunbather actually left the house today?" Aaron laughed.
"What’s wrong, Daniel? Not enough sunlight in the yard anymore? Had to come sunbathe on the street instead?"
’Damn that trashy Smallville Daily!’ Daniel cursed internally.
If it weren’t for that stupid town newspaper, people wouldn’t keep teasing him like this. This had already happened several times.
Still, despite his internal complaints, Daniel smiled politely.
"Yeah. I wanted to walk around town today."
Aaron paused slightly when he saw Daniel’s smile.
’This kid... why does his smile feel so warm?’
"Haha! Alright then, I won’t interrupt you two. Go have fun!" Aaron laughed loudly, his beard shaking up and down in a ridiculously funny way.
"Bye, Uncle Aaron!"
The siblings answered in unison.
Aaron’s feeling wasn’t wrong.
Ever since awakening his powers, Daniel had gradually become brighter and more cheerful, like a walking little sun. Just being near him gave people a sense of warmth and safety.
The change was subtle, happening little by little, to the point that even Daniel himself hadn’t noticed it.
Their first stop was Aunt Sophie’s corn tortilla food cart.
Sophie made unbelievably delicious tortillas. You could tell just by looking at the size of her husband and son.
"Aunt Sophie! Two tortillas please!" Carol shouted toward the serving window.
"Oh, Carol! What brings you here today?" Sophie chatted warmly.
That was just how small towns worked. Everyone knew each other, so whenever people met, they naturally talked for a while.
Soon, the tortillas were ready.
Ignoring the heat completely, Carol took a huge bite immediately.
The hot filling burned her mouth so badly she stuck her tongue out repeatedly, yet she still kept talking through it.
"So good! So good!"
"Aunt Sophie, your cooking got even better!"
Sophie grinned so hard her face practically disappeared into wrinkles.
"As long as it tastes good! Careful, child, it’s hot!"
Even her tone became gentler after the praise.
...
Daniel took a bite too.
Steam still rose from the freshly cooked tortilla, but he didn’t care at all. Unlike Carol, he wasn’t burned in the slightest.
Come on.
Superman could literally bathe inside stars. Would he really be afraid of something hot?
Of course, that was a fully grown Superman.
Daniel wasn’t anywhere near that level yet, but a temperature barely over a hundred degrees meant nothing to him now.
As he ate the tortilla, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
’One day, I’m going to bathe in the center of the sun.’
After finishing their food, Daniel paid Sophie.
It was cheap. Two tortillas together didn’t even cost fifty cents.
"Let’s go, Daniel! Next stop!" Carol grabbed him and pulled him away again.
Honestly, Daniel already had enough strength to resist her now.
Even though Carol was three years older, after only one day of absorbing sunlight, Daniel’s strength had already surpassed kids his age.
Still, he didn’t resist.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
Carol looked up at the sky. It was still early.
"Let’s go watch a movie! By the time it ends, it should be around lunchtime. Then we’ll go eat burgers at Uncle James’s place. His burgers are amazing!"
When it came to food and entertainment around town, Carol knew everything.
"Okay."
They entered the old run-down movie theater and spent two dollars on two tickets.
Daniel had no idea what movie they were even watching.
The theater in town didn’t care what you wanted to see. Whatever they played was what you watched.
Coincidentally, today’s showing was last year’s animated film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
The staff probably saw that most of the audience were children and picked this movie.
Carol watched enthusiastically the whole time, yelling and reacting dramatically to every scene without the slightest concern for theater etiquette.
Daniel nearly fell asleep.
This kind of movie really wasn’t for him, only kids could enjoy it.
He yawned so hard tears almost came out.
Daniel honestly didn’t know how he survived those two hours.
Even after they left the theater, Carol was still chatting nonstop about the plot. Daniel responded absentmindedly while she failed to notice his complete lack of interest.
Eventually, they arrived at James’s burger shop.
The place didn’t even have a proper signboard.
Outside the store, a crooked sheet of paper hung on the wall with the words "James Burgers" scribbled across it.
The exterior looked shabby, but inside was surprisingly spacious.
The building belonged to James himself, so there was plenty of room.
Several customers were already seated inside.
All of them were loyal fans of James’s burgers.
After greeting everyone, Carol dragged Daniel over to order.
Soon, their burgers arrived.
The portions were huge, though the appearance wasn’t exactly impressive.
But after taking one bite, Daniel was genuinely surprised.
The ugly-looking burger was unbelievably delicious.
Especially the seasoning.
...
In the afternoon, they went to the skating rink and played until evening.
By the time they returned home, Daniel’s entire seven dollar savings had been spent down to the last cent.
Not even a penny remained.
Clearly, Carol had planned this day very carefully.
’This brat has definitely been eyeing my money for a long time,’ Daniel thought bitterly.
’She probably knows exactly how much I had saved down to every single cent.’
Otherwise, there was no way she could have spent it so perfectly.
Even though he no longer cared much about saving money, realizing that Carol knew his finances better than he did still annoyed him.
Meanwhile, Carol remained completely oblivious.
"Today was such a fun day, right Daniel?"
"Heh..."