This is so breathtakingly beautiful and raw. My heart hurts in such a good way. Stunning.

Brilliant story! Keep up the good writing.

Wow. I clicked on this on a whim and oh my god. I loved this whole little story from start to finish. Honestly, you did a REALLY good job for only having 4 chapters. It kept me guessing the whole time and when they woke up I was like OH SHIT. Also, Inception was a PHENOMENAL movie. One of my personal favorites. Ugh and the soundtrack is amazing as well. Great listening choice.

I am almost sad that this is the end! It left me wanting more and more! I would love to see how life fares now that they're both awake and out of the dream world. I would love to see how this effects their relationship. Your're writing is lovely, you have such a beautiful style. Very descriptive, I could literally picture the scenes in my head so perfectly. Whenever I read a story, that's a key thing to keep me interested and you DEFINITELY did that immediately. Fantastic job, I would LOVE to see more from you! whether it's a continuation of this or something entirely new!

Love that you're more eloquently recapping all my thoughts on Cindy thus far. "Surely Cindy wanted more from life, right? Surely she had bigger dreams, bigger hopes?A boy couldn't be the end of her life."

Like the symmetry of Jimmy agreeing to stay in the dream and him agreeing to stay on the island.

The rest a good ending, although I feel it was a bit rushed - I think this could have either used a longer fourth chapter or be split into five chapters. Obviously this is a very short piece of fiction, but I felt the first three chapters did a phenomenal job of efficiently and beautifully laying out the world (particularly the first two chapters). Everything seemed real, the characters clicked, and I was sucked in.

This chapter was still good and the story as a whole is fantastic. But in any story like this there will be the problem of "losing" the characters from the dream/simulation/whatever it is. In this case we spent three chaps focusing on 40ish year-old Jimmy and Cindy. Then we get one chapter to ascertain how old they are in the real world, figure out what Jimmy's experiment was, understand their current relationship, and see what their future holds. It's a lot to get across in one chapter. I really liked the point of the final few sentences, but like I said to me it felt a bit rushed.

Again though, great story overall. It's awesome how quickly you slipped back into these characters, had beautiful prose, and wrote a fresh looked about Stranded. Let me know if you put out anything else!

"Their room was mostly empty." Another great opening that symbolizes their existence.

The second paragraph (He ran his fingers..." has some good descriptions of their living arrangements and life, but this was the first extended section where I felt the prose could use some tightening.

The mention of her in a "simple cotton dress" on Mars doesn't match with "King of Mars", unless I'm misremembering. I'm assuming this "glitch" will come back later. At the very beginning of the story I had assumed they were in the afterlife...perhaps that was right. Or perhaps by "dress" you simply meant her usual shirt. But she was in that spacesuit the whole episode on Mars.

"He had the strange urge to ask her to dance, but he didn't." I'd leave out "but he didn't." Makes the sentence flow better and we'll realize he didn't when he doesn't. I like the sentiment, though. Goes back to how Jimmy has regrets, but he's not nearly as miserable as Cindy.

"I barely remember that day."

Yes, this is the afterlife.

The rest confirms it, or at least some version of it. Simulation? Coma? We'll find out.

"Cindy hadn't looked in a mirror in years." Very interesting opening line. Right away, we doubt the claim that she couldn't make one. Jimmy can make a hovercar but not a mirror? She can't see her reflection in the water? I think the truth is, just like that day when she asked Jimmy to stay with her, she is running. It's always been Cindy's weakness. I think this line is a great way to say that Cindy's running from herself.

Glad that we're alternating viewpoints. This chapter's an easy and good read. The next thing that stuck out to me was "Nothing could threaten this new reality. She would not ruin this for herself." Again, this shows how unhealthy this decision was. Cindy's putting her entire life on keeping James, on getting a boy to stay with her. This is the opposite of the Cindy we knew in the show. It's sad to see this shell of the Cindy we all loved. Goes to show how childish Cindy was to ask Jimmy to throw their lives away.

This is a heartbreaking chapter for so many reasons. As states, she's given everything she had up to be with a man. She's dedicated her life to pleasing him. And saddest of all (properly noted right at the end of the chapter), she doesn't believe she has any hope of anything better. Cindy was a popular kid, a borderline genius, an athlete. She didn't have the best home, but she still seemed happy. So why does she say, "she had made the right choice to stay on the island away from her otherwise disappointing life." Obviously no ten year-old has reached their potential and done all they can do.

The first chapter had an inkling of remorse, but it showed that Jimmy was at least somewhat happy. After all, when he thought about her, he immediately thought that he would give everything up for her again.

This chapter took that sadness and multiplied it tenfold, showing Cindy as a purely broken character hiding her sorrow from the only person she has.

It's wonderful to see you writing again, and it's an added bonus that it's a JN piece. Let's dive in!

Your natural knack for quality prose is immediately evident, this story starts quite smoothly. I particularly noticed your talent for switching between flowery prose and simple short sentences. In the first section, you have a wonderful vivid description of "The red hod memory of salt-water..." Shortly after you have three short sentences that quickly get across the scene but also hint at Jimmy's state of mind: "He walked over quietly and slipped into bed beside her. His back was turned to her. She draped an arm around his waist." It's great that you don't get caught in either writer's trap (purely functional vs. purple prose) - you can instead alternate between informative and flowery.

Love the fishtail braid. After Libby changed her hairstyle I've always kind of wondered how the other kids might change their appearances. I loved giving Cindy a waterfall braid in Game of Foams.

We all know fanfics aren't rigorously edited, so I wont' harp on minor things too much. But the next section has a few repeated words (answer & inkling) only shortly separated. I always stay on the lookout for quickly repeated words.

Fabulous closing section - it really gets across the heart of the story and makes you think of how foolish Cindy's offer at the end of "Stranded" was. The only nitpicks are "turquoise blue" could have been shortened to just "turquoise." And Jimmy actually weeping seemed a bit strong for how quickly we're thrust into this world. It MIGHT have been better to have him be more subdued.

Other than that, the last four paragraphs capture your talent at slashing hearts with beautiful prose. Absolutely loved "She had carved their names into a tree together as a girl, and they had carved their names into each other's hearts for eternity."

I think this is a great example of how we view things so much differently as adults than we do as children. As a kid, we think our first love is our only love. Watching Cindy beg Jimmy to leave his life behind on the island, we hope that he takes her up on it. We don't consider how love is just one part of life. As an adult, we realize how Jimmy might have made that choice out of fear, but perhaps he was simply making the most mature decision he ever had. We realize how foolish it would be to tether yourself to your fifth grade love. As an adult...would Jimmy and Cindy survive as a couple? Would they stay best friends? Would they drift apart but leave a mark on each other...as most friends and lovers do?

The point is, I love seeing a realistic take on what might have happened if the kids had made a rash decision on that island. On to chapter two!

Unexpected ending, but amazing nonetheless. Great story!

Wow. Holy crap. Wow.

Did not see that coming AT ALL. I won't say the name of it on here in case there's people that read reviews before reading the story. That's one of my favorite movies. Every time I watch it, I find something new I didn't notice before and I fall in love with it so much more.

It's so creative that you mixed the elements of that film with Jimmy Neutron. And I love the reasoning you gave too. It's just so like Jimmy I love, LOVE this so much. This has got to be one of the greatest twists I've read in a fanfiction in a while. Great job on this story!

Phew okay. That's a literal cliffhanger you're leaving us on. The question I have now is how old are they in the present? Or if you're not sure, approximately how many years have they spent on the island? Honestly, I'm amazed at this story (in a good way). In every stuck-on-an-island scenario in fiction, it's nearly always caused by an accident. Them landing on the island was, sure. But staying there willingly, especially when they had the opportunity to leave? Damn.

Keep up the great work!

Cotton? Interesting.

Now I wonder where they're going...

I like your style

Welcome back! So nice to see you on here again!

So I'm either dumb or reading too quickly because it didn't hit me until the first paragraph of this chapter what was happening. Holy crap. I love this. I love this idea, your execution, all of it. "Stranded" is SUCH an important episode in the fandom - for obvious reasons. But to consider the alternative where they actually stay, WOW. I've never thought about it, but honestly, there's no way it wouldn't go like this.

I don't know if you plan to write more, but I really hope you do. Excellent job.

Good questions, Cindy.

Very introspective. Let's see where this goes...