2. 'Life is weird. Some people deserve what they get. Others get what they deserve. You
wouldn't think there would be much of a difference between the two - but there is. I
think the trick is never knowing which type of person you are.'
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Welcome to the story of Winford Rhinehart’s life after the canon ending of Castaway
Stories. Hopefully you’ll enjoy this much, much more than I did making it (no cheats
and no poseboxes make Ren a dull girl)!
3. When Amanaki Tama brought a boy home, his wife did not protest. Unable to have
children of their own, their family consisted of the abandoned and the needy. And
Amanaki concluded that this infant was certainly needy.
Winford Rhinehart, the elderly man who had attempted to destroy everything the
village knew had been granted a second chance - a new life. Embodied in the toddler
was the spirit of an evil genius, and all the village could do was hope that this was
behind him.
4. The boy showed an aptitude for learning, and so Amanaki and Urari provided as much
stimulus for his young mind as possible.
When the Tamas became a wayward child's 'earth-bearer', they would never change
their name nor lead them to believe they were their real parents. To do so would be a
major disrespect to the child's birth family.
So the child remained Winford Rhinehart, although from an early age he took a liking
to the nickname 'Win'.
5. Seasons passed, the tides rose and fell and the moon went through many cycles. Win
continued to grow larger, as life on the island thrived for all. The sun bleached his hair
golden and when it became apparent he'd need glasses, Amanaki and he had combed
the beach together and found an old pair washed ashore that seemed to fit his
requirements.
As Win grew, he knew nothing of Winford's life and it was decided that no-one should
tell him. Of course, the occasional hushed word was whispered when he was around
but these hints were easily dodged.
6. Matters were not helped by the Chief's stubborn nature – he was old and held old
superstitions. Though he was a caring, supportive leader for his people he did not trust
this 'reborn', and made it clear as such.
Winford had almost killed them all and he had essentially been rewarded for these
actions, whereas the Chief thought that he had deserved otherwise. Though he did not
personally harm the child, he would not allow Win to be painted in the tribal style, he
was not allowed to wear official tribal garb, instead having to clothe himself in old
castaway clothes and nor did he like the idea of his daughter mixing with him.
7. Of course, that never stopped the two. Headstrong Nanihi had never particularly
listened to her father and wasn't about to start any time soon. One day, she would
become the greatest and proudest leader Felicity Island had ever seen.
Win was the only child close to Nanihi's age, and though they did not have much in
common they spent a great many hours exploring the island together. At the age of
twelve and ten, they were inseparable.
8. As Win reached adolescence, however, he began to drift apart from Nanihi. As the
Chief's daughter she was promised to the greatest hunter on the island and so, with
her fast approaching adulthood, preparations were being made for her wedding.
Win found ways to occupy himself and pacify his quietly aching heart. He always had a
love of all things technical, and more than anything he loved his plane. After a new
shaman had been installed, several of the island's crafters had begun to fix up -and
even recreate from scrap - planes around the old air base.
9. With detailed blueprints and the shaman as an adept translator, several of the planes
were functional on solar powered electricity alone and Win's plane was the most
efficient and safe of them all.
He had taken the most dilapidated model, an old wartime bomber, and fixed it with his
own bare hands and brain. It was his pride and joy, something that brought him
positive recognition from within the tribe.
10. Win became addicted to the rush he experienced whilst flying. He had to fly every day
or he would become exceptionally irritable until he was able to. Once when he was
fifteen it rained for a week and he was grounded. Urari thought she wouldn't survive
the temper tantrums that ensued.
The Chief didn't want to risk villagers getting lost and so forbid flight beyond the
volcano island. Win longed to fly further, but respected the leader too much to
disobey. Despite this, he could never shake the feeling that he was an outsider - his
skin showed as much but he was also treated differently, with a sense of not-so-well-
hidden fear.
11. Win was content to live his life as the tribe's uncomfortably accepted engineer, but
everything changed when, on a warm summer morning, Amanaki succumbed to the
illness he had been suffering from brought on by age.
Something broke inside Win and he felt a great crashing in his heart, falling to the
ground with the force of it. What Win didn't know was that Amanaki had been using
his dwindling magica to protect Win from the knowledge of Winford returning to him.
With Amanaki gone, Winford came hurtling back with force.
12. Win battled his very core as his memories, personality, mannerisms melded with those
of Winford.
The Illamanati and their strive towards world domination...
How he had manipulated the shaman, of how he had almost killed everyone...
Not all the memories were so grim. A summer in Paris with a blond girl... her name
was faint but he recalled the lack of emotion... and the arguments...
Everything and nothing made sense.
13. As he regained consciousness, a single, Simlish thought struck him so hard that he
uttered it aloud, 'I'm a monster.'
His own words surprised him as he'd never held a particular interest in Simlish when
the shaman would offer to teach the village children. Abruptly, he was fluent.
Winford's memories of Simlish, of course. The flow of information had incapacitated
him briefly but now Win realised he was a vessel, simply a prison for an evil old man to
spectate from. He could hear Urari calling him, but he didn't have the heart to
respond. He didn't want to see anyone.
14. Urari still found him and noticed immediately that something was direly wrong. She
had come to call him to pay his final respects to his earth-father's body, but the wise
old woman knew what must have occurred.
When Win, shaking, confirmed her theory she truly didn't know what to say. A strong,
warm woman, she was hardly ever speechless but she knew she had to comfort her
youngest earth-son.
15. He seemed to calm considerably once she held Win in her arms, and Win blurted out
something nobody in the tribe had known about, not even the shaman who had
actually met Winford in his previous life.
When Winford monologued to the shaman, he mentioned he was part of the
'Illamanati', an organisation dedicated to world domination.
16. What Winford didn't mention was that they were headed by the richest and most
ruthless family in the world – and Winford had been betrothed to marry the leader's
daughter. However, he was a cold and heartless man and so left her at the altar – but
not before defiling her.
Winford had told the shaman that he had been 'stationed' on Felicity Island. In fact, a
friend had hidden him there and he had been attempting to find the staff of Tuzu in
order to placate the Illamanati. They were vying to hurt Winford, and would destroy
anything that gave him any pleasure in his miserable life. If the Illamanati found him
here, Win thought, they would kill everyone on the island at least.
17. That night, Win decided that he had to leave. He pulled on the least tattered outfit he
could find and found his aviator glasses, wearing them with a distorted sense of pride.
Under cover of darkness, he bid his earth-mother a tearful goodbye. He thanked her
for her altruism in raising him and she thanked him for being such a loving son.
Win then made his way to the air base to fly away from the island. Carefully dipping
into Winford's detailed memories of the geography of Felicity Island, combined with
the shaman's tales of their homeland 'back West', Win had a good idea of what
direction to fly in.
18. The position of the moon in the sky told Win that it was roughly midnight when he
climbed into his trusty bomber. Though it was not the most aesthetically pleasing
plane in the world, it was his only foreseeable route of escape.
Once seated, Win made last-minute preparations for take-off. As he did so, his mind
drifted and gave a final thought to Nanihi, his 'first love'. They had joked about
breaking tradition and marrying one day when they were younger... but now that
dream could never be reality.
19. Armed with not much more than the clothes on his back, Win barrelled down the
runway and left Felicity Island's soil for the last time.
'West.' was his only thought as he flew away from all he thought he had known.
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Thank you for reading the prologue! It was just a short explanation of Win's life before
he reaches civilisation, and I'm still getting comfortable with the story so hopefully I'll
find a better flow. Normally I'm quite speech-y with my writing, but there wasn't really
any dialogue in this because I see the island natives as not speaking Simlish. Hopefully
you enjoyed the prologue and you'll be interested in seeing more of Win!
