Chapter 2
Grandma Winnie had told others about Jesse Tuck, when they had asked about her first love. But Lily was the only one she had told about the secret. Lily had been ten. It was the day before Grandma Winnie had died, and Lily was sitting on the edge of her bed, trying to deal with the fact that she was going to lose her great grandmother.
"Why do you have to die?" She had demanded tearfully.
"Everyone dies, Lily" Grandma Winnie replied calmly, laying a weak hand on Lily's arm. "It's the natural cycle of life. People die to make way for the new people being born every day. I've lived for a hundred years, and that's long enough for me."
Lily hadn't understood this, of course. All she had understood was that one of her favorite people in the world was about to be taken from her.
"I wish you could live forever, Grandma Winnie!" she exclaimed, collapsing onto the bed in tears.
Grandma Winnie had looked at her for a long time, and then seemed to make up her mind about something.
"I had the chance to, once."
Lily looked up. She didn't question the truth of what her great grandmother was telling her. Grandma Winnie was not the type to lie to children, even if it was to make them feel better.
"When?" she asked breathlessly.
"When I was fifteen. I met a boy named Jesse Tuck, and I fell in love. He loved me, too, and he told me his secret." Grandma Winnie lowered her voice. "He and his family had once taken a drink from a magical spring, and it made them immortal. That means to live forever. They could not be hurt, they could not get diseases, and they would never die. Even though Jesse looked seventeen the year that I met him, he was actually one hundred and four."
"Wow." Lily said.
"Yes. It was an amazing secret, and he asked me to share it with him. The Tucks had to leave town, but he asked me to go to drink from the spring and to wait for him, and he would come back for me."
Lily looked at her great grandmother's aged, lined face and felt a deep sorrow.
"Why didn't you drink? Didn't you really love him?" Lily asked accusingly. How could anyone turn down such an offer?
"I did. Or, at least I thought I did. Every day, for weeks, I would go to that spring and dip my hands into the magical water and think about drinking. And I would think about spending eternity with Jesse and I would bring the water up to my mouth. But I always let it run out through my fingers."
"Why?"
"Despite Jesse's declaration of love ringing in my ears, the words that stuck most in my mind were those of his father. The day I found out the Tuck's secret he rowed me out on the lake and explained a different side of eternity to me. He told me that he and his family weren't really living at all. They were merely stuck in time as the world grew and changed around them. He told me, 'Don't be afraid of death, Winnie, be afraid of the unlived life.'"
"I don't understand."
"I'm not sure that I did either. Not at that moment. Not when I was living in their magical oasis in the woods. But over the coming weeks I thought about his words more and more.
I'm not sure my love for Jesse was the eternal kind, but in that time I spent with him, I loved him with all my heart, the way only a fifteen year old can. Meeting Jesse was the best thing to ever happen to me. He had all the time in the world, so he could be much freer that most people. He could really take the time to experience everything. He showed me how to love life. And in my tightly buttoned-up world I needed to be shown what freedom was like.
But Lily, I was only fifteen. Such a big decision, to be made so young? So I decided to wait. I would wait a few years and then come back to the spring. But in those years I traveled and saw the world and loved life. And I felt I already had so much ahead of me. Life in which I could grow and change and live. And the life that the Tuck's were forced to live seemed so stagnant in comparison. I owed so much to Jesse, but I couldn't go back to him and live as he had to. Hiding myself from the rest of the world, not forming any friendships for fear of someone discovering my secret. I didn't need eternity. I had all my life, and that felt like enough."
"I think I understand. You wanted to grow up." Lily said sadly, looking at Grandma Winnie.
"I know this is a big secret for a little girl, but I can trust you to keep it, can't I Lily?"
"Yes, Grandma Winnie." Lily said. She was going to question her more when her mother came into the room.
"Come on, sweetheart. Grandma Winnie needs her rest."
So Lily merely kissed Grandma Winnie and left the room.
The next day the doctors called them all to tell them it was the end. Lily's mother brought her into the room to say goodbye. Lily was crying as she leaned in to kiss Grandma Winnie.
"Lily?" she asked, slightly dully.
"Yes, Grandma Winnie."
"Lily," she repeated, pulling her great granddaughter closer. "Every ten years the Tuck boys meet their mother on Main Street here in Tree Gap. If they're still on schedule, they will be here in five years, on the first day of summer. It's a big decision, Lily. I hope five years is enough."
"Thank you" Lily whispered as Grandma Winnie closed her eyes.
Lily's family stayed in Tree Gap for the funeral and then went back to their home in Georgia. And for five years Lily thought about what Grandma Winnie had told her.
Grandma Winnie had told others about Jesse Tuck, when they had asked about her first love. But Lily was the only one she had told about the secret. Lily had been ten. It was the day before Grandma Winnie had died, and Lily was sitting on the edge of her bed, trying to deal with the fact that she was going to lose her great grandmother.
"Why do you have to die?" She had demanded tearfully.
"Everyone dies, Lily" Grandma Winnie replied calmly, laying a weak hand on Lily's arm. "It's the natural cycle of life. People die to make way for the new people being born every day. I've lived for a hundred years, and that's long enough for me."
Lily hadn't understood this, of course. All she had understood was that one of her favorite people in the world was about to be taken from her.
"I wish you could live forever, Grandma Winnie!" she exclaimed, collapsing onto the bed in tears.
Grandma Winnie had looked at her for a long time, and then seemed to make up her mind about something.
"I had the chance to, once."
Lily looked up. She didn't question the truth of what her great grandmother was telling her. Grandma Winnie was not the type to lie to children, even if it was to make them feel better.
"When?" she asked breathlessly.
"When I was fifteen. I met a boy named Jesse Tuck, and I fell in love. He loved me, too, and he told me his secret." Grandma Winnie lowered her voice. "He and his family had once taken a drink from a magical spring, and it made them immortal. That means to live forever. They could not be hurt, they could not get diseases, and they would never die. Even though Jesse looked seventeen the year that I met him, he was actually one hundred and four."
"Wow." Lily said.
"Yes. It was an amazing secret, and he asked me to share it with him. The Tucks had to leave town, but he asked me to go to drink from the spring and to wait for him, and he would come back for me."
Lily looked at her great grandmother's aged, lined face and felt a deep sorrow.
"Why didn't you drink? Didn't you really love him?" Lily asked accusingly. How could anyone turn down such an offer?
"I did. Or, at least I thought I did. Every day, for weeks, I would go to that spring and dip my hands into the magical water and think about drinking. And I would think about spending eternity with Jesse and I would bring the water up to my mouth. But I always let it run out through my fingers."
"Why?"
"Despite Jesse's declaration of love ringing in my ears, the words that stuck most in my mind were those of his father. The day I found out the Tuck's secret he rowed me out on the lake and explained a different side of eternity to me. He told me that he and his family weren't really living at all. They were merely stuck in time as the world grew and changed around them. He told me, 'Don't be afraid of death, Winnie, be afraid of the unlived life.'"
"I don't understand."
"I'm not sure that I did either. Not at that moment. Not when I was living in their magical oasis in the woods. But over the coming weeks I thought about his words more and more.
I'm not sure my love for Jesse was the eternal kind, but in that time I spent with him, I loved him with all my heart, the way only a fifteen year old can. Meeting Jesse was the best thing to ever happen to me. He had all the time in the world, so he could be much freer that most people. He could really take the time to experience everything. He showed me how to love life. And in my tightly buttoned-up world I needed to be shown what freedom was like.
But Lily, I was only fifteen. Such a big decision, to be made so young? So I decided to wait. I would wait a few years and then come back to the spring. But in those years I traveled and saw the world and loved life. And I felt I already had so much ahead of me. Life in which I could grow and change and live. And the life that the Tuck's were forced to live seemed so stagnant in comparison. I owed so much to Jesse, but I couldn't go back to him and live as he had to. Hiding myself from the rest of the world, not forming any friendships for fear of someone discovering my secret. I didn't need eternity. I had all my life, and that felt like enough."
"I think I understand. You wanted to grow up." Lily said sadly, looking at Grandma Winnie.
"I know this is a big secret for a little girl, but I can trust you to keep it, can't I Lily?"
"Yes, Grandma Winnie." Lily said. She was going to question her more when her mother came into the room.
"Come on, sweetheart. Grandma Winnie needs her rest."
So Lily merely kissed Grandma Winnie and left the room.
The next day the doctors called them all to tell them it was the end. Lily's mother brought her into the room to say goodbye. Lily was crying as she leaned in to kiss Grandma Winnie.
"Lily?" she asked, slightly dully.
"Yes, Grandma Winnie."
"Lily," she repeated, pulling her great granddaughter closer. "Every ten years the Tuck boys meet their mother on Main Street here in Tree Gap. If they're still on schedule, they will be here in five years, on the first day of summer. It's a big decision, Lily. I hope five years is enough."
"Thank you" Lily whispered as Grandma Winnie closed her eyes.
Lily's family stayed in Tree Gap for the funeral and then went back to their home in Georgia. And for five years Lily thought about what Grandma Winnie had told her.