Movie Synopsis: This story is a sequel based on a short 15m film called "The Fountain" by the Moser brothers. In it, we see characters Artie Banks and Maddie Paulson meeting at a fountain in a park located in Orlando, Florida. They appear to be meeting for the first time, although the meeting had been arranged previously; Artie is seen reading a note telling him the girl's name. The two go for a walk while they talk until they end up in front of Artie's house. He invites her into the house for something cold to drink and the scene shifts subtly to many years later at the same house. A much older Artie is waiting on a bedridden Maddie before he goes out to work in their greenhouse. While working, he drops a trowel that causes water to well up and run away from the spot. He collects some of the water and finds that it almost instantly renews withered and dying plants. He takes some of the water in to the house and gives a sip to Maddie, who is then able to get out of bed and move around for the first time in ages. They notice how the water causes a sprout to regress to a seed and create a plan to drink the water themselves. Maddie drinks first and becomes youthful again but loses all her memories back to the meeting in the park. She still thinks she needs to meet somebody in the park and leaves to go do so, while Artie writes himself a note to go meet her, giving her name and a picture because he understands he will have no memories of their life together either. He then drinks the water and becomes young again for we next see him in the park with the note he wrote to himself. The film ends with him meeting Maddie in the same fashion as the beginning of the movie, seemingly for the first time although the viewer knows otherwise.
Chapter 1
A Life Once Lived
Artie Banks stood at the edge of the park and looked again at the note he found in his house laying on the writing desk. It was labeled "Read this Artie" on the envelope, and inside he found a picture of a girl and a note written to him in a handwriting that was not unlike his own but in a shakier and less flowing style. It read:
Artie, you must go to the park down the street. Sitting on the bench you will find a girl. You must introduce yourself; if you don't believe this now you will when you see her. She will be the girl of your dreams. Suggest you go for a walk, and when the walk takes you to your house invite her in for a drink. She prefers sweet tea. Excuse yourself and go into the greenhouse in the backyard and read the note there.
Oddly, the letter was unsigned.
Well, the picture matched the girl that was sitting on the edge of the fountain so he followed the instructions and introduced himself and suggested a walk. He steered the walk to his house, and invited her in for a cold drink. They talked for a bit, and he excused himself and slipped out into the backyard to check the greenhouse. Along with the flowers and gardening supplies was another note lying on a table. He took the note and read the contents, again in the same handwriting as before:
Artie, you have been married to Maddie for 47 years; you proposed the same day you met her. Forty-seven years later you dropped a tool and water sprung out of the ground on the place marked on the other side of this paper. That water had the power to rejuvenate life. Maddie drank about 4 ounces of the water and became young but lost her memories of the 47 years. You are writing this note to yourself before you drink the water too. The rest of the water is in a Mason jar in the top shelf above the oven. You can be no happier than spending another lifetime with Maddie. I don't know how you can convince others what happened. Look at the photo album.
This note was signed Artie.
He quickly grabbed one of the better-looking potted flowers and hurried back into the house. He presented the flower along with a cold drink as they continued to talk. Artie could see how life would be wonderful with this woman and before the evening was out he proposed. It wasn't until after she accepted that he decided to give her the full story, or at least as much as he had told himself.
Artie was quite intelligent, but he fumbled for a way to start the topic; no matter which approach he thought of it was going to sound like he was insane. But if he didn't say something Maddie was going to think of herself as insane. She still thought that it was 1954, Eisenhower was President and her parents were waiting for her back home across town where they all lived in a simple single-floor wood house. Artie didn't know who the president was, but at least he knew it was around 2001 and both of her parents must be long dead. This wasn't going to be easy.