text: [Themes: edutainment]
  
  To his horror, the room was filled with rats. They were tightly compact against each other, clawing and pushing at the walls. Their chitters filled the air. Winston was reminded of his previous torture at the hands of O' Brien. The shrill noise of the rats in the cage and their yellowed teeth in his face brought back terrible memories. Winston quickly drew his mind away and focused on the current predicament. The rats had not yet noticed him but Winston could feel the fear slowly consuming him from the inside. He was at loss on what to do. He wanted to scream, but he was afraid that the rats may notice him. But if he tried to run away, the commotion would also alert the rats of his presence. He could only stand there and wait for help... or hope for the best and scream.
  
  > Scream.
  Winston decided that for once in his life, he would gamble on his fate, and although he didn't believe in superstitions, may lady luck smile upon him. After taking a deep breath, Winston screamed as loud as he could.
  
  "Help! Help! Somebody, Anybody! Please save me!"
  
  > They're going to eat you!
  Winston did not get to see the reactions of the rats before he heard a big boom in the air.
  
  Suddenly, a big, black, furry gorilla appeared in front of him.
  
  The gorilla took a second to view his surrounding before growling and snarling at the rats. The rats, scared, began to back away and resumed their scraping against the wall. Winston stood at the door, still, unsure if he had just jumped out of the frying pan into the fire. He was about to run for his life when the gorilla looked at him and he understood.
  
  "So you are the one who called for help." The gorilla greeted, "... hello."
  
  Winston stared dumbly at the gorilla. And he stared.
  
  Perhaps he had died and this was heaven, and in heaven, gorillas could talk.
  
  As if reading his mind, the gorilla continued, "My name is Ishmael and you're not dead. What did you call me for?"
  
  > What? A talking gorilla..?!
  He didn't have time to wonder!
  
  Winston frantically said, "I want to escape! Help me escape! Please."
  
  Ishmael calmly replied, "Close your eyes and you will find yourself in a new place."
  
  Winston said, "How will that help me escape?"
  
  "If you think hard enough, and if you believe hard enough, you will escape. Easily, swiftly, and smoothly."
  
  Winston felt pretty hopeless, which is why he gave it a shot. He cleared his throat and then went completely silent. Closing his eyes, he began to think. He thought of a new location. He began desiring this location with all of his heart. A few minutes later, Winston opened his eyes.
  
  > It's cold...
  Once Winston opened his eyes, he was shocked to see that he was surrounded by sand. He also seemed to be... in the middle of the ocean? He tried to remember how he had ended up here, recalled the previous events, and then realized the fatal flaws in Ishmael's ability: there was no way of choosing a location to appear in.
  
  He had ended up on a random shore... looking to the left, his gaze landed upon a lagoon where he noticed some little kids trying to avoid these older, savage-looking kids, who seemed to be aggressively playful. A little more aggressive than playful, actually.
  
  > At least you're far away from those rats...
  Winston decided to explore the island. This was definitely one version of the escape he was looking for.In fact, he was just lucky that he hadn't landed in the pits of Hell. He could vaguely remember Ishmael mentioning the drawbacks of the ability, now: there was that Dante guy who had accidentally apparated in the Devil's Realm.
  
  Well, he wasn't that unlucky, but the savage kids were an unexpected twist. Winston did his best to stay clear of them for his own safety. All he wanted to do now was explore, relax, and indulge in his newfound feeling of freedom. Plus, the chill of the air soothed his varicose ulcer.
  
  > There's a chill in the air.
  Trekking on forth into the island, Winston began to see the faint figure of a man coming towards him.
  
  "Whoo... who is it....?" he called shakily, taking a step back.
  
  The figure raised an amicable hand, drawing closer. He was rather handsome, clothed in fine fabric and a warm fur coat. "Oh, hey there old sport! Fancy meeting you here! Say I have a question for you! Have you seen a golden haired, dainty girl around here?" he pursed his lips. "I've been looking for her-- she's the love of my life you know. Oh that Daisy, we met a while back when I was in the army. She was-- is-- the most beautiful girl I have ever laid my eyes upon. Ohh... I'm rambling aren't I?
  
  Winston hesitated. "... uh, no. Not at all."
  
  "Well you see here this island is all mine. I bought it to be mine and Daisy's honeymoon getaway. What are you doing here?"
  
  "I... I'm not really sure, myself."
  
  The well-dressed man dismissed his words with a wave of his hand. "Say, old sport," he shifted on his feet, "You haven't happened to see her around here, have you? She wandered off a while ago, you know, she's a little foolish like that. All sorts of dangerous animals around here and I wanted to show off my strength, maybe hunt a few wild boar, that sort of thing. I'm rambling again, aren't I?"
  
  "Uh, no, no... no. You aren't."
  
  "So you've seen her?" he looked hopeful. "Where?"
  
  > Lie
  "Oh," Winston backtracked, then paused. "Uh..."
  
  His companion pressed his lips together at the sight of Winston's shuddering shoulders. "Please tell me. I'll... here, you can have this coat! Once you let me know, of course."
  
  Winston's eyes brightened. "... I saw her on the beach."
  
  > Wow, Winston. Way to cheat this nice man out of his coat. Shame on you.
  "You saw her?!" he shrugged off his winter coat quickly and offered it to Winston, who tucked the cloth around his frail body, ceasing in his shivers. It was thick, warm, and rife with the fragrance of rich tobacco. "I have to go catch up with her!"
  
  He looked up to the man, offering him a grateful smile. "I... thank you."
  
  "Of course, old sport." the gentleman replied excitedly, already marching off. "It's the least I could do for an honest fellow. There haven't been many people in my life quite as... genuine."
  
  "I'm sorry." Winston looked down, tightening the coat against his bony shoulders. "Mister, uh... your name?"
  
  But when he looked up, his savior was gone, leaving behind the faintest smell of cheap cologne.
  
  > Maybe you can find some shelter. It's getting dark.
  Winston walked around the island, the fur coat on his shoulders. The sun was setting and the sky was getting dark. With the waning light, Winston wanted to find at least a place to camp before night fell. As Winston walked around, blindly feeling for steps, he heard a soft conversation in the distance. Perhaps there were more people on the island! Winston quickly ran towards the light, ignoring the branches that grabbed at his fur coat. As he neared he realize that the people had stopped talking. In fact, all around him was silence. It weighed heavily on his shoulders and he tried to shrug it off and continue forward. A branch snapped under his feet and he hear a yell.
  
  "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!"
  
  Several other consecutive yells answered and Winston felt something push at his back before being attacked by unknown strangers. He did not even have the time to plead for help before he died. The pain was excruciating but death was quick.
  
  So this is how it ends.
  
  > This is why you don't lie to people, Winston.
  Winston felt his soul drift out from his body, his conscious along with it. He viewed his maimed dead body from his corporeal form. He felt no remorse; after all, he had never really lived, though he regretted the fact that his relationship with Julia had ended the way it did.
  
  Winston soon left his body. He found that as a ghost, he felt much lighter, and he floated away from the island towards the ocean. Perhaps, if he went far enough he would reach land. True to this logic, Winston soon reached land after two days of crossing the ocean. At the seaside, there was a flag raised. It was a red flag with a white cross running through it. Beneath, the sign read:
  
  "Welcome to Denmark."