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One thing I love about intensely involving tales is when their characters know they will carry the effects of the events with them "forever," and I, as their silent partner in the plot, will also carry the memory with me.
Sleeper by WaywardOne might convey just such a powerful image. It will take a year or more for me to know.
When I was a kid, Robinson Crusoe affected me that way. I read it six or eight times until I ran into the romantic version Swiss Family Robinson where, instead of a disastrous shipwreck, they were able to rescue everything they needed to start a new life. It spoiled me for the dark mystery of Robinson Crusoe until, in later years, I recognized the importance of both narratives in my life -- the happy one and the despairing one. They both represent adapting to environment, but spring from a different attitude. It wasn't just the riches that the Family Robinson had (although it's nice to have enough material possessions to be comfortable), it was their outlook on tomorrow that made a difference.
So now Marsha and Ron have a chance to live out Robinson Crusoe, with his dark and furtive existence, or Swiss Family Robinson and their joyful anticipation of the sunrise.
Just as they will probably never meet Jan and Tom again, I shall probably never meet Marsha and Ron, but I hope their impact on my life will have a similarly positive effect on my future -- to renew and ignite, to excite and to sustain.