Love and Grief Everlasting by Kathleen Emerson
Disclaimer: I don't own Tuck Everlasting at all. I own the video and the book but I don't think that counts.
Summary: I think Winnie did the right thing by living the "life unlived" but I was watching my video and got this idea so I wrote this story. In my version of the story, Winnie's parents died in 1918 during the worldwide Spanish influenza epidemic. Overcome with grief, she decides to drink the water and wait for Jesse to return. During the years that pass she begins to understand what Tuck and Miles tried to tell her about living forever. Will Jesse find the same Winnie he left or will she have changed too much for them to find the love they had?
Author's note: The movie was filmed in Maryland, so not knowing where Treegap actually is, if it even exists, I chose to place the story in Maryland.
Sometimes it seems although time can last forever. Sometimes it seems although time goes too quickly. For Jesse Tuck it didn't exist. (just a quote from the movie, I'll probably use more of them)
Part One
Treegap, Maryland 1924
Six years. It had been six years since Robert and Elizabeth Foster's deaths. Six years since their eighteen and a half year old daughter told the town she was engaged to a man in New York City and disappeared, presumably to New York. The big white house had belonged to the Fosters for over sixty years stood empty, void of any life, if there had ever been any......
The train came to a screeching halt. Winnie Foster "Jackson" stood up and reached for her hatbox in the upper compartment above her seat. It had been ten years since she had seen Jesse Tuck. She remembered his last words to her,"I'll love you til the day I die, Winnie Foster!". She remembered Mae had come into town every ten years to meet her two sons. This was the first decade since the last visit. Winnie hoped Jesse had remembered and that he could come into Treegap. It would be dangerous for them both, especially Jesse, since he had been run out of town. At least she had a good story.
Winnie had supposedly been married to a man named Caleb Jackson, a good man, not rich but far from poor, a marriage her parents would have approved of if Caleb Jackson existed. Winnie decided to return to Treegap a widow so she wouldn't have to try to find a man willing to stand in as Caleb. She hadn't decided whether or not there should be children involved. With children, the Foster home could be kept in the family. Without them, the house and forest would go to the county. She longed to keep the house but knew it would probably be dangerous. This would have to be her last and only trip into Treegap for years until all that remembered Winnie Foster were gone.
"All out for Treegap, Maryland!" The conductor walked up and down the narrow aisle calling. "All out!"
Winnie took a deep breath, gathered her skirts and her hatbox, and began to walk toward the door. Once out the door, her eyes filled with tears as she looked around her beloved Treegap. As a child, never being allowed to step outside her own fence, she didn't have much chance to see the town except a few outings with her mother and governess. But, oh, how Winnie had loved the little town of Treegap! It wasn't even on a map, wasn't a major town in any way but to her it meant everything. The past six years had been spent traveling but never had she found such a town as Treegap.
There was the old general store, the train depot, the police station, the restaurant, the school, the church, Winnie could go on all day with her memories. But right now she needed to get her luggage and a buggy or an auto to take her home to the Foster mansion.
As she walked up to the stationmaster, his eyes popped open." Miss Foster? Miss Winifred Foster, is that you?" he asked.
"Yes, sir. I've returned to Treegap for a while. I've recently lost my husband, Caleb Jackson, and wished to leave the busy city for a quiet vacation." Winnie's voice trembled slightly as she told her well rehearsed story for the first time.
"Oh, my dear, how awful for you. Here, let me help you with your bags. Did you want a buggy and horse or an auto car to take you home?" he asked, kindly. "Do you have somewhere to stay? I'm sure the missus would allow you to stay with us if you need to."
"I plan to stay in my house. I still own it and I still have things that should have been done after my parents' deaths." she explained.
"Very well, if you need anything at all, you know where to find us." The stationmaster shrugged his shoulders as he turned away to ask for a buggy for "Mrs.Jackson".
"Here ya go, Miss Winifred. The finest auto car we have. In fact, I believe it belonged to your father."
Winnie looked at the fine black auto car. The stationmaster was right, she was sure of it. The car seemed to be identical to the one her father had had, but then again all autos seemed to be the same. But there was something about this one that made her certain this was her father's.
Slowly, she climbed in. Years of living alone had taught her survival and learning to drive, no matter how unladylike, was a skill she had perfected. Her luggage safely stowed in the back, she drove off toward the house she had called home for eighteen and a half years.
I guess the next chapter should deal with what she finds in Treegap. Will Jesse be waiting for her? Will Winnie have returned to Treegap for nothing? Tell me what you think and I might use some of your ideas, with the proper credit of course. I really like reviews so please read and review. I make no promises of when this will be completed but I always try to finish all my stories(then again, I have only one other on ff.net). I'll just watch Tuck over and over again for ideas until it's completed, I suppose! Katie
Disclaimer: I don't own Tuck Everlasting at all. I own the video and the book but I don't think that counts.
Summary: I think Winnie did the right thing by living the "life unlived" but I was watching my video and got this idea so I wrote this story. In my version of the story, Winnie's parents died in 1918 during the worldwide Spanish influenza epidemic. Overcome with grief, she decides to drink the water and wait for Jesse to return. During the years that pass she begins to understand what Tuck and Miles tried to tell her about living forever. Will Jesse find the same Winnie he left or will she have changed too much for them to find the love they had?
Author's note: The movie was filmed in Maryland, so not knowing where Treegap actually is, if it even exists, I chose to place the story in Maryland.
Sometimes it seems although time can last forever. Sometimes it seems although time goes too quickly. For Jesse Tuck it didn't exist. (just a quote from the movie, I'll probably use more of them)
Part One
Treegap, Maryland 1924
Six years. It had been six years since Robert and Elizabeth Foster's deaths. Six years since their eighteen and a half year old daughter told the town she was engaged to a man in New York City and disappeared, presumably to New York. The big white house had belonged to the Fosters for over sixty years stood empty, void of any life, if there had ever been any......
The train came to a screeching halt. Winnie Foster "Jackson" stood up and reached for her hatbox in the upper compartment above her seat. It had been ten years since she had seen Jesse Tuck. She remembered his last words to her,"I'll love you til the day I die, Winnie Foster!". She remembered Mae had come into town every ten years to meet her two sons. This was the first decade since the last visit. Winnie hoped Jesse had remembered and that he could come into Treegap. It would be dangerous for them both, especially Jesse, since he had been run out of town. At least she had a good story.
Winnie had supposedly been married to a man named Caleb Jackson, a good man, not rich but far from poor, a marriage her parents would have approved of if Caleb Jackson existed. Winnie decided to return to Treegap a widow so she wouldn't have to try to find a man willing to stand in as Caleb. She hadn't decided whether or not there should be children involved. With children, the Foster home could be kept in the family. Without them, the house and forest would go to the county. She longed to keep the house but knew it would probably be dangerous. This would have to be her last and only trip into Treegap for years until all that remembered Winnie Foster were gone.
"All out for Treegap, Maryland!" The conductor walked up and down the narrow aisle calling. "All out!"
Winnie took a deep breath, gathered her skirts and her hatbox, and began to walk toward the door. Once out the door, her eyes filled with tears as she looked around her beloved Treegap. As a child, never being allowed to step outside her own fence, she didn't have much chance to see the town except a few outings with her mother and governess. But, oh, how Winnie had loved the little town of Treegap! It wasn't even on a map, wasn't a major town in any way but to her it meant everything. The past six years had been spent traveling but never had she found such a town as Treegap.
There was the old general store, the train depot, the police station, the restaurant, the school, the church, Winnie could go on all day with her memories. But right now she needed to get her luggage and a buggy or an auto to take her home to the Foster mansion.
As she walked up to the stationmaster, his eyes popped open." Miss Foster? Miss Winifred Foster, is that you?" he asked.
"Yes, sir. I've returned to Treegap for a while. I've recently lost my husband, Caleb Jackson, and wished to leave the busy city for a quiet vacation." Winnie's voice trembled slightly as she told her well rehearsed story for the first time.
"Oh, my dear, how awful for you. Here, let me help you with your bags. Did you want a buggy and horse or an auto car to take you home?" he asked, kindly. "Do you have somewhere to stay? I'm sure the missus would allow you to stay with us if you need to."
"I plan to stay in my house. I still own it and I still have things that should have been done after my parents' deaths." she explained.
"Very well, if you need anything at all, you know where to find us." The stationmaster shrugged his shoulders as he turned away to ask for a buggy for "Mrs.Jackson".
"Here ya go, Miss Winifred. The finest auto car we have. In fact, I believe it belonged to your father."
Winnie looked at the fine black auto car. The stationmaster was right, she was sure of it. The car seemed to be identical to the one her father had had, but then again all autos seemed to be the same. But there was something about this one that made her certain this was her father's.
Slowly, she climbed in. Years of living alone had taught her survival and learning to drive, no matter how unladylike, was a skill she had perfected. Her luggage safely stowed in the back, she drove off toward the house she had called home for eighteen and a half years.
I guess the next chapter should deal with what she finds in Treegap. Will Jesse be waiting for her? Will Winnie have returned to Treegap for nothing? Tell me what you think and I might use some of your ideas, with the proper credit of course. I really like reviews so please read and review. I make no promises of when this will be completed but I always try to finish all my stories(then again, I have only one other on ff.net). I'll just watch Tuck over and over again for ideas until it's completed, I suppose! Katie