(He laughs, a bright, boyish sound.) That’s the point! You won’t get old. You’ll be eleven forever. Or seventeen, if you wait a few years. We could travel the world, Winnie! See oceans, mountains, cities that haven’t even been built yet. We’d be together. Always.

Drink it, Winnie. Just a sip. Then you’ll be like us. You’ll never have to say goodbye to anyone ever again.

Jesse. Let the child breathe.

(She looks at the bottle, then at Angus.) But if I drink it… I’ll never see the first wrinkle on my mother’s hand. Or watch my father’s hair turn gray. Or know what it feels like to be old, and tired, and ready.

A small clearing in the woods near Treegap. A large ash tree with a spring bubbling at its roots. Late afternoon light.

Note: This is an original dramatic adaptation for educational or audition use. For performance rights to the official Tuck Everlasting stage musical or play, please contact Dramatists Play Service or Music Theatre International.

(Shakes his head slowly.) No. It stops you from living . The way a stone lives. The way a wheel on a broken wagon lives—spinning in place, going nowhere, watching everything else rot and change around it.