Tuck Everlasting: Chapter Three Summary & Analysis

At noon that day, Winnie sits on the closely cropped grass inside her fence, talking to a toad outside. She tells it that she might run away tomorrow, but she can't tell if the toad is listening or not. Winnie's been at the fence for a while. She came out earlier feeling annoyed and angry, so she threw some pebbles in the toad's general direction. When she ran out of pebbles, she started to talk to it. Now, Winnie tells the toad she can't stand it much longer. As she does, a window in the cottage opens and Granny tells Winnie to not sit on the grass, while Winnie's mother calls her for lunch.

Winnie tells the toad that because she's an only child, the adults want to look at her and look after her all the time--but she just wants to be alone for a while. She says that she'd like to do something interesting that would make a difference, and she might like a new name too. Winnie suggests that she could keep a toad as a pet, but when the toad heaves itself further away from her, she suggests that her pet toad would be no better off than she is, as she's basically in a cage too. She laments that her family never lets her leave the yard by herself and declares that she's going to run away. Winnie's mother calls again and the toad begins to hop toward the wood. Winnie tells the toad she's serious about running away tomorrow.