How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
She looked at Miles, and then she asked him, "What will you do, if you've got so much time?"
"Someday," said Miles, "I'll find a way to do something important."
Winnie nodded. That was what she wanted. (17.26-8)
These two may have a different amount of time left to live, but they both want the same thing: to matter. A human's a human, immortal or not.
Quote #8
[Winnie] wished, for a fleeting moment, that she could stay with them forever in that sunny, untidy little house by the pond. Grow up with them and perhaps, if it were true about the spring—then perhaps, when she was seventeen . . . […] And then her eyes went to Tuck and lingered on his sad, creased face. It occurred to her that he was the dearest of them all, though she couldn't have explained why she felt that way. (18.17)
Winnie definitely thinks about trumping time and joining the Tucks. But forever is a long time, and she quickly realizes that it might not be all it's cracked up to be.
Quote #9
"Anyhow, I come to say goodbye. We won't be able to come back here for a long, long time, Winnie, if we get away. I mean, they'll be looking for Ma. Winnie, listen—I won't see you again, not for ages. Look now—here's a bottle of water from the spring. You keep it. And then, no matter where you are, when you're seventeen, Winnie, you can drink it, and then come find us. We'll leave directions somehow. Winnie, please say you will!" (22.20)
Even immortal Jesse still thinks of how much time will pass before he sees Winnie again. Hmmm—once he realizes that the "ages" he's thinking of now is actually just a blip on the immortal radar, do you think he'll change his tune about living forever?