Tuck Everlasting

At sunset that day, Winnie is in the yard catching fireflies when a stranger comes to the gate. He is an older, unremarkable gentleman, except for his yellow suit which “seemed to glow a little in the fading light” (19). Winnie’s grandmother comes out to ask what the man wants, but he doesn’t answer.

Suddenly, a tinkling melody comes from the wood, stopping after a moment. Winnie’s grandmother is excited because she believes the elves have returned, but Winnie thinks the song sounds like a music box. She and her grandmother go inside, leaving the man to stare at the wood. A while later, he walks away, whistling “the tinkling little melody from the wood” (23).

The next morning, Winnie decides not to run away but that she will investigate the wood for the source of the music. In the wood, she greets the toad from the day before, which hops off, leaving her to explore. After a while, she comes upon a clearing where a handsome boy rests under a massive tree.

As she watches, the boy drinks from a spring at the tree’s roots. When he finishes, he sees her and tells her to come out of hiding. Winnie does, and the boy introduces himself as Jesse Tuck. Winnie asks how old he is. He tells her that he’s 104 years old. Winnie scoffs, and he says he’s really 17. Winnie is disappointed he’s so much older than her at 10 and comments that 17 is old, to which Jesse says, “you have no idea” (30).

Winnie asks about the spring. Jesse says it’s not good to drink. Since Winnie just saw him drink from it, she argues. Looking frightened, Jesse covers the spring and stands on it. A moment later Mae and Miles arrive. Mae takes one look at the scene and ends the chapter with the dire proclamation “the worst is happening at last” (32).