24a
This is the first page of the book's one ending. Yes, oneending. And it's a happy, hopeful one, too. Several reasons for this decision:
-- None of the other books used this option. We studied the Choose-Your-Own-Adventures when we began the project, and I noted many different kinds of structures, including the one-ending option. When a CYOA used this option, they tended to have threads that brought you back to Page One: "Return to the Beginning." I found this a cheap tactic, and gave myself the task of structuring CYOCA#4 so that all threads went to one place, that you could travel through every page of the book before reaching the end, and that no choice resulted in going back in time. This proved challenging, but I did it.
-- I wanted a heavy, important book to have a heavy, important ending. Having many endings would dilute that.
-- Having a happy, hopeful ending would counteract the negativity and criticism of the other 78 pages.
-- I believe there's value in criticism, but even more in offering solutions. Changing Traina's attitude, or more realistically, replacing him, is the best one I can offer.