I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any part of the universe. Still trying to figure out the layout so please bare with me. Also, please review!

Blown Away

Cindy sat on a bench outside of her house and stared at the faint dark clouds that were just beginning to peak over the horizon. The weather man called for a twister today. She smiled. Today's the day. It'll finally be over.

"What will be over?" She didn't realize that what she said was heard out loud, when a teenage boy walked up and took a seat next to her on the same bench. He has been her next door neighbor since they were kids. The term next door neighbor is used loosely here because this boy lives about a mile away since this is the country we are talking about.

"What are you doing here Jimmy? Can't you see there is a storm coming? You should be at home." Her concern was only masked by annoyance for this boy who so rudely walked up and had the nerve to sit next to her. He saw right through it.

"What's wrong, can't I see my girlfriend every once and awhile?" He grins and kisses her on the cheek.

She laughs. "I see you every day."

"Yeah, well I guess that's not enough for me. " He's straddling the bench facing her and leans in for a kiss. She welcomes his kisses and they sit like this for a few minutes. Suddenly the make out session is halted by a loud crack of thunder and a flash of lightning.

"Wow that is coming in faster than I thought." Jimmy puts his hand up to his forehead as if it was going to help him see further and block out the sun that was barely peeking through the overcast.

"Yeah." Cindy is brought back to her thoughts. Just a little bit longer.

"We should probably find some shelter. You have a storm cellar right?" Jimmy is staring at Cindy now, his question breaking into her thoughts once again.

"Oh, yeah. It's over there." She pointed to a cellar door on the side of the house.

"Well, c'mon. Let's go get your dad. Is he in the house?"

Cindy's voice is difficult to hear through grinding teeth. "He's taking a nap with a bottle of whiskey." Jimmy starts toward the house but Cindy pulls on his sleeve.

"No! Leave him, let's go to the cellar." She hastily pulls on his arm using all of the strength her small frame could muster. Jimmy's gotten a lot stronger over the years.

"Are you crazy? We can't just leave your dad, he'll die." He watches Cindy's expression change from worry to, well something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"That's exactly what I want us to do."

The wind is picking up much more now that lawn furniture is being thrown across the yard. The benches the two teenagers were sitting on just a few minutes earlier are knocked over by the increasing wind force.

"We have to go. Now!" Cindy shouts over the wind. Cindy and Jimmy run to the cellar and open it up. Cindy climbs down first. Jimmy hesitates for a few seconds.

"C'mon Jimmy!" She cries.

He quickly looks back at the house and reluctantly gets inside the cellar. Once inside, Jimmy locks the door.

"What the hell, Cindy? We could've gotten your dad!"

"No….no. He doesn't deserve to live." The storm clouds were gathering in her eyes.

Horror is imprinted on Jimmy's face. "What are you talking about? What's going on Cindy?" He was cautious as he made his way towards his girlfriend very slowly, who was on the other side of the cellar on a stool facing the wall.

"Do you remember my mom's funeral?" She connects the specks of dirt with an invisible line, on the concrete blocks in front of her.

He nodded even though she couldn't see him. "She was killed in a car accident."

"Do you believe that?" She still hasn't looked at Jimmy so he takes it upon himself to stand in front of her. She doesn't look at his face.

"Well, yeah why wouldn't I? Car crashes are very common. Why, what are you saying?" He knew what she was implying, but hoped that he was going to be wrong for once.

"She wasn't killed in a car crash. She was murdered." Finally she looks up at Jimmy. "And my father did it."

"What?! That's a pretty big accusation Cindy. How do you know?" His short sense of skepticism fades away when Cindy utters the next sentence.

"Because. I was there."

"You're such a fucking bitch." Cindy's father spat at his wife.

"Warren, I took your booze away because it is destroying you, and it's destroying this family." Cindy was listening to her parents fight from the upstairs of their home. She could see them through the railings on top but they weren't aware that she was there. Even though they tried not to, her parents had woken her up in the middle of the night. This isn't the first time that this has happened, and she figured it wouldn't be the last.

"I don't give two shits about this family. I never wanted one anyway." He drank his whiskey straight from the bottle.

"You don't mean that-"

"I only married you because you were pregnant. It seemed like the right thing to do, but oh boy am I paying for it now." Warren sat down on the couch and reached for the TV remote, but his wife got to it first.

"Because you have people who care about you?" She thought she could get him to talk to her.

"Because you don't leave me the fuck alone!" The remote was forcibly yanked out of her hand.

"Warren I can't watch you slowly kill yourself. What do you think will happen to Cindy? She needs a father."

"If she turns out like you, I don't want to have anything to do with her anyway. Fucking bitch."

Cindy's gaze followed her mom as she went in the direction of the liquor cabinet. On a mission, she started to take everything out and set them on the counter. Cindy had an idea of what her mom was about to do, but hoped that she would change her mind.

Brown liquid was poured out into the sink. One bottle, then two. Warren wasn't paying attention until he heard the sound of a bottle breaking on the tile floor.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He jumped up from the couch into the kitchen and ripped the bottles out of his wife's hands. "This shit is expensive! I work hard for this, and you are just pouring it down the sink?" Cindy could hear the anger rising in her dad's voice, even more so than before.

Cindy's mother held up her hands defensively. She was afraid of her husband. "Warren, relax..I can buy you more." He face came to be within inches of hers and his looming form towered over her with one of the remaining full bottles in his hand.

"That's not the point! You're pouring it out now, right in front of me." The grip that he had on the bottle, turned his knuckles white.

"Warren. Please." Cindy's mother pleaded as tears welled up in her eyes.

Cindy heard a loud thump and the piercing sound of glass shattering. With a thud, her mother's body crumpled to the floor. Warren set what was left of the bottle, on the counter and bent down by his wife's side. When she didn't move, he started to panic.

"Julie, get up. Don't play with me. Get up!" He slapped her face a few times to get her to respond. She didn't. He felt her pulse and watched as the blood slowly oozed from her skull.

"Fuck."

Warren picked her up and ran outside into the clear, warm night. Cindy bolted back into her room and pulled the covers over her head. Her heart felt like it was going to explode. She cried until there were no tears left.

"Why didn't you tell the police?!" Jimmy couldn't believe what he was hearing or that this has been kept a secret for so long. He was pacing around the small cellar.

Cindy watches him pace like it was a tennis match. "I couldn't. I didn't have any proof. Back then, my dad was a respected member of the community. They wouldn't have listened to me anyway. If he knew that I knew, he probably would've killed me too."

Jimmy stilled his incessant pacing. "What did he tell you when you asked where your mom was?"

"He sat me down and told me that my mom left us. Just like that. Left all of her things and skipped town. He said that she told him she couldn't take it anymore. I pretended that I believed him and tried not to ask too many probing questions. He never suspected that I knew anything." She picked at the tears in her jeans that suddenly became very interesting to her.

"I still can't believe this. I can't believe you kept it a secret for so long! How come you never told me before? I wouldn't have said anything. " He was now standing in front of Cindy, who was still mesmerized by her jeans. Once again, she lifts her head to meet his gaze.

"Well since you don't like me keeping secrets, there's probably something else I should tell you. Before I do, promise me you won't get mad at me for not telling you earlier."

He nodded in agreement.

"Hey Cindy. Cindy. CINDY GODDAMMIT GET DOWN HERE!" Warren screamed for Cindy to come down from her room.

"WHAT?!" She was clearly annoyed.

"Get the fuck down here and grab me a beer." Her father demanded.

"Are you serious? You're closer to the fridge, and you've already had one too many." Cindy crossed her arms even though her father couldn't see her.

"It's my job to know when I've had enough. Stop fucking around and bring me a beer."

"Get off your lazy fat ass and get it yourself." In a bold move Cindy tried to defy her father.

"Cindy, I swear. You watch your tone and do as I say or you will be very sorry." The seriousness in her father's voice was not something to be taken lightly.

Deciding not to push the issue further, Cindy obeys her father.

"That's a good girl. Why don't you sit and watch some TV with your papa?"

"Um no, thanks." Disgusted, she turns to leave.

"Sit." He pulls her down to sit right next to him. Uncomfortably close. They watch TV, Warren laughs at something stupid. He puts his hand on Cindy's thigh…

"Wait. Stop. I don't want to hear anymore." Jimmy stops Cindy from finishing. "Cindy..I'm so sorry. I wish I knew what you have been going through all this time. Even though I want to punch a wall right now, I'm finally understanding why you didn't tell me in the first place. But, I'm glad that you trust me enough to share this with me now. You don't have to be afraid anymore." His words lined with love.

"Jimmy, it's ok. I've gotten through it. To be honest, if it wasn't for you I may not even be here right now. I was at a very low point before we met. You came into my life at the exact right moment. And I am forever grateful for that. I love you." Eyes beginning to mist she reaches around Jimmy's waist.

"I love you too, Cindy. Always." Jimmy kisses her forehead.

The thunderous howl of the wind grew louder and both Jimmy and Cindy knew that the tornado was coming in fast. They couldn't see anything since there were no windows in the cellar, but they could definitely hear the scraping and scratching of metal. Cindy figured it was the car that was being flung around like a toy.

"It's getting really bad out there. I'd say it will be here in a matter of minutes," Jimmy commented. He looks at Cindy seriously and was anticipating what she was going to say to what was about to come out of his mouth. "We have to get your dad."

"NO! Absolutely not!" Cindy shrieked.

"I can't just purposely let a man die, Cindy! No matter what horrible things he has done. He deserves to rot in prison, instead of taking the easy way out." Jimmy makes his way toward the entrance. Cindy doesn't hesitate to follow.

"If YOU go out there, you'll die Jimmy!" The floodgates had opened. Jimmy couldn't ignore Cindy's uncontrollable sobs and takes her in his arms. Frozen in the middle of the dark, dingy cellar, Cindy holds on for dear life.

About 30 minutes later, things seem to die down outside. Jimmy unbolts the cellar door to assess the damage.

"Oh my god."

Everything was destroyed. Cars had been flipped over and crushed as if they were nothing. Trash was strewn all over the property. The house looked as though a bulldozer had a field day. As far as Jimmy could see nothing looked to be salvageable out of this mess. He walks out into the debris to get a closer look. Out of his peripheral vision, something abnormal caught his eye. It was a human arm, sticking out from under all of the wood and drywall.

Cindy stepped out of the cellar to see what was going on. "Jimmy-"

"Cindy, don't look. Everything is destroyed. There's nothing worth saving here." He turns to shield her field of vision, sadness etched on his features.

Cindy seems to understand, but her eyebrows furrow. "I want to see for myself."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Cindy." Even though it's what he believed, he also knew that Cindy was right.

"Jimmy, I have to see for myself."

Cindy carefully walks into the rubble towards the arm that is visible. When she finally does, she sees more than she bargains for. Her father is pinned beneath layers of wooden posts and parts of the house, unable to move. He is badly hurt, blood is seeping from his chest and head. He is alive, but barely.

Cindy's father sees her through the blood covering his eyes. He speaks with labored breath, "Cindy. Please. Help. Me."

Watching her father struggle, gives her the upper hand and confirms that she isn't afraid anymore, nor does she care about what happens to him. "You're right Jimmy, there's nothing worth saving here. Let's go."

As she walks away, her father calls to her, but she ignores him. Jimmy is having a harder time ignoring him, so she grabs his arm and pulls him away.

"Hey let's go to your house to see if everyone is OK." Jimmy is hesitant, but agrees and they walk to his house.

Once they get there the first thing they notice is that the house is still standing. The car is in the driveway without a scratch on it. The garden is in full bloom. Nothing looks put out of place whatsoever.

"It must have just missed us." He walks into his house searching for his parents. "Hey is anyone in here?"

"Oh Jimmy we are so glad you are ok!" Four arms wrap around Jimmy. He sighs with relief.

"Oh Cindy, we're so glad you are ok too!" Jimmy's mom exclaims and thy both envelope Cindy in a warm hug. "Where is your father?" Jimmy's mom steps back.

Cindy stares at her feet. "Um, he didn't make it."

"Oh Cindy, come here. I'm so sorry." Jimmy's mom pulls her in for another hug. It reminded Cindy of how her mother used to hold her. Tears begin to form in her tired eyes.

Jimmy watches this exchange between his mother and girlfriend. Studying Cindy's face he notices that she is smiling through the tears.

The nightmare is over.