Malick pole-vaulted into eternity, and then returned.

NEWYORKER: Commitments

The link between these tales appears to be a tree, the life-giving properties of which have turned it into a grail for those in search of eternity.

NEWYORKER: The Fountain

Gradually, the mound gets larger, kills the plant, develops into a dune, and roams the desert for eternity.

BBC: The ghostly shore of Namibia��s Skeleton Coast