Tuck Everlasting: A Synopsis (* Spoiler Alert)

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If you could drink from a magical spring and live forever, would you? Winnie Foster is a ten-year-old girl that lives with her parents and grandmother in a big house with a fence surrounding it. She is not allowed to go anywhere without supervision. On her property is a place called the “wood.” Winnie was thinking of running away and went into the wood alone one day. While she was there, she saw a boy move pebbles aside and drink from a small spring. He hadn’t seen Winnie there. Then, they started talking. His name was Jesse Tuck and he was really one hundred and four, but he told her he was seventeen. When Winnie asked if the water was good to drink, Jesse said, “No. It’s dirty.” Winnie said if it was fine for him, it would be fine for her. It’s her family’s wood, so it’s her spring. Jesse told her that it would be terrible if she drank it. Then his mom, Mae, and brother, Miles, showed up to get Jesse. The worst thing had happened. Someone found out about the spring. They had to seize Winnie and take her with them to their home and to Tuck. They never wanted to harm her in any way and they never did. They simply needed her to understand why she should never tell anyone about the spring and more importantly, why she should never drink from the spring. The family had drunk from the spring eighty-seven years ago and then realized after a few years that they weren’t aging. Tuck, the father, had even tried to kill himself by shooting himself in the heart. It didn’t even leave a mark. The rest of the family also had accidents in which they should have been very hurt, or dead, and yet they were fine. That’s when they knew for sure that they could never die. They needed to make Winnie understand that living forever is not a good thing. Things are supposed to grow and move and change. That’s how the world is meant to work. Dying is a part of life. You can’t pick out the pieces you like and leave the rest. Being part of the whole thing is the blessing. The Tucks feel like they are useless in this world and not really “living,” because you can’t live without dying. Tuck explains to Winnie that at first people would think having life everlasting is amazing and everyone would flock to the spring to drink from it. But they would be wrong. The world would continue to change, but the people would stay the same and they’d be sorry, but it would be too late. Winnie understands and enjoys her time with the Tuck’s.

A man in a yellow suit followed the Tucks back to their home and heard the conversation about the spring and how drinking from it will make you live forever. He wants the spring so he can get rich off it. Then, he stole their horse and rode to the Foster’s home and told them that if he could tell them where their daughter was, they would have to give him the “wood” in exchange. He then returns to the Tuck’s house and demands they give him Winnie to return to her home so he can be given the “wood.” Mae grabs Tuck’s shotgun and tells him to leave Winnie and he won’t, so Mae hits him with the shotgun and cracks his skull. The man dies. Mae is arrested, put in jail, and sentenced to hanging. Winnie was returned home. The problem is that Mae won’t die when she’s hung and people would find out their secret, so they have to break Mae out of jail. Winnie wants to help. So Jesse tells her the plan and gives her a small bottle of the magical water. He tells her that when she’s seventeen, she could drink the water, and come find him. They could get married and live together forever. Winnie didn’t know what she’d do.   They got Mae out by the window in her cell and sent Winnie in to take her place. In that time, the Tuck’s leave and never return. Winnie returns home and decides not to use the water on herself. She doesn’t want to live forever. She pours the water on a toad instead. Winnie gets married, has children, and lives her life. Years later, the Tuck’s return to find the wood is gone and they see Winnie’s grave. Her headstone let them know she lived a happy life.

Lily B. 

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