he finished. "Jasper is very interesting. He was quite cool in his first life, able to influence those around him to see things his way. Now he's really cool, and actually able to manipulate the emotions of those around him—calm down a room of angry people, for example, or excite a lethargic crowd, conversely, on the other hand. It's a very subtle gift."
I considered the impossibilities he described, trying to fathom it all. He waited patiently while I thought.
"So where did it all start? I mean, Carlisle changed you, and then someone must have changed him, and on, and on, and on... "
"Well, where did you come from? Evolutionism? Creationism? Couldn't we have evolved in the same way as other species, predator and prey? Or, if you don't believe that all this miraculous and beautiful world could have just happened on its own,²⁹⁴ which is hard for me to accept myself, is it so hard to believe that the same force that created the delicate angelfish with the shark, the baby seal and the whale clubber, could create both our kinds together?"
"Let me get this right—I'm the baby seal, right?"
"Right." He laughed, and something touched my hair—my lips?
I wanted to turn toward him, to see if I could make it his lips on my hair. But I had to be good; I didn't want to make this any harder for him than it already was.
"Are you ready to sleep?" he asked, interrupting the short silence. "Or do you have any more questions?"
"Only a bazillion more or two."
"We have tomorrow, and the next day, and the next... ," he reminded me. I smiled, euphoric at the thought of our infinite futures.



294. Q. Why is the banana so ergonomically designed for the monkey's hand?
A. Because God has a Masters in product design.

309

Chapter 14

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