1999
Lena took a deep breath and entered the room where a very old woman was lying down on a bed, obviously very close to her final days.
"Hi, Winnie," she said to the woman.
The woman slowly turned her head and smiled at the girl at the door. "Lena Bennett. You haven't aged a day."
Lena couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you."
"I guess I'm finally older than you, aren't I?"
"Nice try. I'm 104, still four years older than you."
Winnie laughed lightly. "Nonsense. You don't look a day over nineteen." She looked over at the young girl and noticed something. "Is that a ring I see?"
Lena smiled broadly. "Yeah. Miles and I got married about a year after we left Treegap. We ended up having two beautiful girls and a boy. Mattie, Olivia, and Ben."
"How are they?"
Lena knew very well what she was asking. She wasn't asking simply how they were getting along. She was asking if they were even alive at all and what age they were if so.
"When they were old enough to understand, we told them about the spring water and we allowed them to choose whether they wanted to drink it or not. None of them decided to. Mattie passed on a few years ago. Olivia too. Ben is about 78 now and he is still as wild as ever."
"What have you been doing?"
"Well, after we left, we found a place to stay pretty far from Treegap. We all stayed together for a while. Then after the wedding, Miles, Jesse, and I would all go away for ten years and then reunite with Angus and Mae and spend some time together. Right now, I'm alone. They don't even know I'm here."
"It's hard to believe that Miles has found someone to love so much."
Lena smiled and fingered her ring. "We've had some arguments, but we love each other just as much as we did that one summer. But there will always be a huge part of him that loves his first wife. Just like there will always be a huge part of Jesse that loves you."
"Has heā¦found anyone?" The tone of her voice suggested she was almost afraid of the answer.
"No, no one. He just hasn't found anyone that he loves as much as you." Tears formed in Lena's eyes and began making strides down her cheeks. "He's missed you. We all have. Especially me."
Winnie smiled weakly. "I'm glad I got to see you one more time."
Lena took Winnie's hand. "Me too. I love you, Winnie. And I always will. I promise."
"I love you too, Lena. I always have. And I've never stopped thinking about you."
"And I you. You will always have a special place in my heart. And just like me, that will never die." She gently kissed her good friend on her forehead. "Good-bye."
Lena left the room slowly, making the last moment she had with the woman she still called her sister never end. Once outside, tears freely flowed down her cheeks.
Winnie was always her best and truest friend. And nothing, not even immortality, would ever change that.
