A/N: okay guys just to let you know, because of how longgg it took me to update, and i still have jet lag, i didnt go to sleep until i finished this whole chapter, which, for me, is verry difficult. so... be thankful!!! im sorry i didnt post in a while but to get some time with my comp was difficult, and then enuf of tht time to write a chapter, and then to find a place with internet so i can post it... yeah, its been a long day :S sooo without further ado: the nexxxt chapterrr!!!

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I looked at the sky thoughtfully and nodded along beside Kartik. The hues were beautiful. I remembered a dream I had had when in India, when I was a little girl. I had imagined flying through that sky, that sky that is too beautiful to be real. That time of day that you know only comes once a day; it must end at some point.

Its the same with every beautiful thing, I realized at that moment. Its there, but you are not sure, and you do not want it to leave, but you have always got a feeling, deep down, that it will float away. I shook my head sadly. Nothing beautiful will ever last.

I looked back down from the beautiful sky. Only then did I realize that Kartik was watching me intently. I smiled shyly at him. He did so back, a bit reluctantly, the corner of his mouth rising only slightly in a crooked smile that made my heart skip a beat; then, when my heart began again, it was pounding like the drums at the climax of a song.

I gasped and tapped my head lightly. "I must get back to Sporks," I realized sadly.

"I will walk you back, if you would like," Kartik said. It seemed like he was purposely giving me a choice; as if he almost wanted me to say no, and that it is fine.

"It is pretty frightening out here at night. Yes, I'd be delighted," I said, a bit too eagerly, I realized too late. Kartik's crooked grin grew a bit wider, and we began walking down the path in the direction of Sporks, standing too close to each other for it to be considered appropriate. Then again, we were always breaking the rules.

"Kartik, there is something I must ask you," I began, the thoughts that were bottled up in my mind finally spilling out. He nodded, but didn't say anything, so I took that as a sign to continue. "You are not a normal young man."

"That isn't a question," he mentioned, then muttered, "and who ever said I was young?"

I groaned frustratingly. "Why do you always do that? You say things that do not even make sense."

I knew I had completely lost my mind. I was saying things that did not make any sense whatsoever.

Kartik sighed, but did not say a word. We walked on down the dirt path for a bit. Finally, he admitted, "You are right. I am not a normal man." Even with him trying to avoid it, i noticed that he had not mentioned that he was a young man, as I had mentioned.

I turned my head to him, a curious look imprinted on my face. I could feel my eyes getting unusually wide, my mouth parting a fraction of an inch. "What are you, then?" I asked, feeling tense.

Kartik frowned a bit, but did not answer me. He turned his head subtly from side to side, as if two people were arguing in his mind. I could tell that he was trying to convince himself to tell me something. Finally, he sighed. "I had been trying to keep my distance, but it is so difficult," He muttered just loud enough for me to hear. He looked at me, and I nodded for him to go on. "I did not want to cause havoc at first, but then you caught me... and then I heard what those savages were thinking, and-"

I felt my eyes almost pop out of my head. "You what?" I asked, and Kartik stopped talking, as if to punish himself. "So you could read minds? Is that what it is?"

Kartik had fallen completely silent. It seemed like he had completely stopped breathing. Finally, he sighed and continued. "I could read every creatures' mind on the planet except yours. For example, the chipmunk in the bushes is thinking of walnuts. The beaver by the pond is thinking about teaching her children how to float. The woodchuck is thinking of wood. The porcupine..."

I waited patiently, and when Kartik stopped talking, I asked, "What about the porcupine?"

"The porcupine is thinking about the woodchuck, and the woodchucks' train of thought had just changed to the porcupine herself."

"Does the porcupine think about the woodchuck often?" I asked.

"Yes," Kartik replied.

"Well then," I said. "I feel like the queen of the porcupines."

"Don't forget the woodchuck," Kartik replied. "He's been thinking about the porcupine a lot, too. Possibly more, actually." Kartik paused before hastily adding, "Therefore, I wholeheartedly feel like a woodchuck."

I looked at Kartik in shock.

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A/N: i am sooo sorry this is sooo short guys, but i am just sooo tired, i mussssttt go to sleep! i promissse i will write more a.s.a.p. this is a huggge turning point in the story, after all!!! please r+r, and thank you for keeping up with this story! it means a lottt....