The Mishap
The next morning wasn't like any other morning. There seemed to be an extra spark of excitement and joy in four of the seven castaways. The Skipper and the Howell's noticed it. Gilligan came out of his hut, grinning from ear to ear. The Professor was up greeting everyone and the girls were humming cheerfully as they made the biggest breakfast they had ever made since getting stranded.
The Skipper couldn't figure out why they were acting this way. It's not like they were going to get rescued. Nothing had floated onto the island that day. Maybe there was something he didn't know? No, that couldn't be possible since Gilligan knew already. They were probably just a having a really good morning.
After breakfast, Gilligan and the Professor both grabbed their letters from where they had hid them the night before. They waited until nobody was around, and they carefully sneaked into the girls' hut to place the letters.
Ginger and Mary Ann were picking berries when they got extremely exhausted from kneeling down on the dirty sand. They decided to take a break so they went to their hut to relax. Mary Ann brought the basket of fruit they had collected and she set it on the table. She went to lay on her bed, but she felt a piece of paper under her body. She pulled it out from her and got a glance of what it was.
"Ginger!" Mary Ann squealed. She leaped off her bed with the letter gripped in her hands. "Gilligan sent a letter back!" she exclaimed in excitement.
"So did the Professor!" Ginger waved her letter in the air as she jumped up and down like a little girl. Both girls sat down to read their letters thoroughly. Mary Ann was captivated by every sentence. She read it over a few times letting Gilligan's words sink into her brain.
"Wow, I didn't know Gilligan could be so thoughtful," Mary Ann said breathlessly. She showed Ginger what Gilligan had wrote.
"He sound's so smart," Ginger said reading it over. Mary Ann nodded in agreement.
"How's your letter?" she asked. Ginger looked back at hers, a bit disappointed.
"I don't know. You would think the Professor would have more to say," she said. Mary Ann saw that Ginger's letter had barley any words. It just said: I think you're very pretty and I like you too.
"Huh, well at least he got to the point," Mary Ann said. Ginger agreed, but she wanted something more romantic. Something where they could both express their feelings, but not just in a measly old letter. They needed a party.
"A party?" Mary Ann questioned Ginger's idea.
"Yeah, like a dance or a ball," Ginger suggested. "We can have it on the main part of the island with decorations and music." Ginger marveled at her own idea. She pictured herself and the Professor slow dancing to romantic music and as the night went on she hoped to tell him how she felt in person.
"I love dances Ginger, but what good will that do?" Mary Ann asked. Ginger stood next to Mary Ann with a hand on her shoulder. She looked ahead, painting a picture of what she had in mind.
"Picture this," she said, waving her arm across the air. "Gilligan and the Professor come to this party looking all handsome. They ask us to dance and we accept of course." Mary Ann followed along as she imagined it in her head. "Then after we dance for a while, we both tell them how we feel," Ginger finished. Mary Ann grinned.
"I like the sound of that. Let's do it!" she agreed.
Back outside their hut, Gilligan kept pacing around. Sitting at the table, the Professor was trying to read, but he couldn't focus with Gilligan pacing like that. He noticed Gilligan walking past him, with a nervous look on his face. The Professor stopped reading so he could figure out what was going on with him. "Gilligan, why are you pacing like that?" he asked. Gilligan stopped to look at the Professor.
"I'm not pacing," he stated.
"Yes you are," the Professor said. He looked at Gilligan's hands that were shaking. Gilligan sighed.
"I guess I'm so nervous about the letter." He took a seat next to the Professor.
"What's there to be nervous about Gilligan?" the Professor asked.
"What if she laughs, crumples up the letter and throws it across the hut." Gilligan moved his arms in a throwing motion, demonstrating what he thought would happen. The Professor sighed and rolled his eyes. A reaction Gilligan got used to from everyone.
"Gilligan she's the one who sent you a letter in the first place," the Professor reminded him.
"Oh yeah," Gilligan said, but that still didn't make him feel better. He looked down at his shoes that were pressed into the sand. The Professor started to read again, but he saw Gilligan's gloomy expression. He closed his book and took it in his arm as he got up from the table.
"Look Gilligan, there's absolutely nothing to worry about okay? When they read their letters I can assure you that nothing bad is going to happen." The Professor stood beside Gilligan and patted his shoulder for comfort before leaving. Gilligan sat up straight and adjusted his hat. He thought about what the Professor said and it made him feel less scared.
"Gilligan!" he heard his name being called. Mary Ann and Ginger rushed over to him like a pack of wild dogs. "Gilligan!" Ginger and Mary Ann repeated.
"There's going to be a dance tonight, right here on the island," Ginger happily announced.
"And wear your best clothes," Mary Ann added. Gilligan looked at her confused.
"These are my best clothes," Gilligan said, looking down at his red long-sleeve shirt and blue flared jeans that he wore every single day. They didn't say anything because before he knew it, they were off to find the rest of the castaways to announce the dance.
"Skipper!" Ginger and Mary Ann called when they found him attending to some bananas.
"Hi girls." He grinned as he peeled a banana. "What can I do for you?"
"We just wanted to invite you to our dance we're having tonight," Mary Ann told him.
"A dance?" the Skipper said with wide-eye excitement. Ginger and Mary Ann nodded. "That sounds wonderful."
"Can you pass it on to the Howell's for us?" Ginger asked.
"Sure," the Skipper said, leaving with a bundle of bananas in his arms.
Now they had one more person to invite.
The Professor.
Mary Ann and Ginger stood in front of the supply hut, about to go inside, but Ginger stopped Mary Ann. She pushed Mary Ann's arm away from the door.
"Can I do this one by myself?" Ginger asked Mary Ann.
"Sure." Mary Ann smiled.
Ginger opened the supply hut door slowly so she wouldn't disturb him. Inside she saw the Professor diligently working on yet another contraption. On the table there were tools scattered around, pieces of bamboo, and tree vines. "Hi Professor," Ginger said.
"Hm," the Professor muttered. He was too focused on his project to pay to attention to her. Ginger crossed her arms, frustrated.
"Hello Professor," she said more sweetly this time, hoping he would notice. The Professor continued to pay more attention to the man-made object on the table, then at the girl who was trying to win his heart. Ginger had enough and she stormed off feeling greatly offended.
"So how did it go?" Mary Ann eagerly asked, not knowing that what had happened in there was a total let down for Ginger.
"It didn't," Ginger huffed. "He didn't pay any attention to me. He was too busy with his dumb old contraption."
Mary Ann gave her a small grin and an I-feel-your-pain look. "Let me try," Mary Ann offered, walking into the hut to give it a go. Ginger followed behind, but she stayed close to the door.
"Hi Professor," Mary Ann said cheerfully. Mary Ann smiled as she walked towards the Professor. Upon hearing her voice, he instantly perked up and dropped one of his tools on the table.
"Hello Mary Ann. Why you're looking quite beautiful today," the Professor told her. Mary Ann blushed at the surprise compliment
"Thank you Professor," Mary Ann said. In the back, witnessing everything, Ginger clutched part of her dress in a fist full of rage.
"So what brings you into the supply hut while I'm working today?" he asked, smiling.
"I just wanted to invite you to the dance me and Ginger are having tonight," she told him. The Professor gave her a warm smile.
"That sounds great," he said delighted. Mary Ann smiled at him and waved goodbye as she left. Ginger stood still with her hands on her hips.
"Well that was easy," Ginger barked to Mary Ann.
...
That evening the girls' had decorated the main part of the island with hand-made decorations. First, they had strung together flowers for a long banner and hung it on the trees. Then on the table they arranged fruits and more flowers and the record player for the music to dance to. They had also prepared food and deserts for a meal after the dancing. Mary Ann of course made Gilligan's favorite: coconut cream pie. She hoped to eat it with him after they dance and she told him how she felt.
Ginger and Mary Ann sat at the table as they waited for their "guests" to arrive. Mary Ann nervously tapped her fingers on the table while Ginger had a hard time sitting still. Finally the first people to arrive were the Howell's and that made the girls' calm down a bit. They greeted each other and the Howell's took a seat at the table. Not far behind the Skipper came over and sat next to them. Now there was only two more people left. The two people whom Mary Ann and Ginger were waiting the whole night for. As they saw Gilligan and the Professor walking towards them, their anxious nerves were back.
"Hello Ginger," Gilligan said as he took off his hat for courtesy. He had his shirt tucked in and his hair combed to the side. Ginger noticed Gilligan's smile wasn't like any other smile he had ever given her before. It was bashful and sweet, but made her puzzled. The Professor gave Mary Ann the same type of smile, but his was more sophisticated. Before Ginger could say anything, the Professor had pulled Mary Ann away to dance. Mary Ann looked back at Ginger; both were bewildered.
"Come on Ginger, let's dance like them," Gilligan said as he gently pulled her from the table and next the Professor and Mary Ann.
"But Gilligan!" Ginger cried out.
"It's okay Ginger, I'm not that good at dancing either." Gilligan smiled at her as he held her waist and they danced. Ginger kept looking back at the Professor and Mary Ann and she could see she was having the same problem.
"I'm sorry Professor," Mary Ann said. She stared up into his eyes, giving him a sincere look as they danced.
"Don't worry, I'm terrible at dancing too," the Professor said. He had one arm around her waist and the other holding her hand.
"It's not that Professor," Mary Ann said. "Would you excuse me for a moment." She let go of his hand and pulled herself away from the Professor's arms. Ginger took the queue and did the same with Gilligan. Mary Ann pushed Ginger aside to talk.
"I thought you wrote your letter to the Professor?" Mary Ann whispered.
"And you said you wrote to Gilligan," Ginger whispered back. They both looked back at the Professor and Gilligan who were awkwardly standing, waiting for the girls' to come back.
"I did send my letter to Gilligan," Mary Ann told her.
"And mine to the Professor," Ginger said. The girls' put their hands on their hips and gave each other a questioning look.
"We need to tell them the truth because obviously their into us," Mary Ann said. Ginger agreed, and they both nervously went back to their dancing partners. Mary Ann smiled at the Professor, assuring him that everything was okay even though it wasn't. He could see right through it and gave her a concerning look in his eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked. Mary Ann sighed and looked down at the sand.
"You know the letters?" The Professor nodded.
"I meant to send mine to Gilligan," Mary Ann explained. "And you were supposed to get Ginger's." The Professor froze and stopped dancing, but he still held Mary Ann's hand.
"Oh." His voice cracked, looking into her eyes. Mary Ann felt her heart break. She thought she was doing the right thing by telling the Professor the truth, but it made her feel worse. Things weren't going too well for Ginger either.
"Gilligan I'm sorry!" Mary Ann heard Ginger yell. Gilligan was standing feet away from Ginger, hurt.
"The Professor lied!" he yelled. "He said nothing bad would happen!" Gilligan threw his hat to the ground and stormed off. Everyone looked at each other, wordless.