It was the second time in ten minutes that Gilligan was too stunned to move. The first time, he'd definitely been frozen in terror. A deadly snake had slithered closer and closer. Then it stopped suddenly as flute music filled the air. The bushes parted as Ginger emerged, playing the Professor's bamboo flute, from when Mrs. Howell had the castaways form an orchestra a couple years before.
Ginger gasped at the sight of the snake, but then she started playing again, luring the snake away from Gilligan and towards the edge of a cliff. She stepped nimbly aside just before the snake slithered off the cliff and plunged to its death.
Gilligan stared at Ginger.
"I was once in a movie with a snake charmer. Gilligan, why are you looking at me like that? Don't tell me you wanted to keep the snake as a pet."
He shook his head. "Ginger, you just saved my life!"
"Well, you would've done the same for me. If you knew how to play the flute."
"I owe you everything! Tell me what you want, and I'll give it to you!"
"Hm. Anything?"
"Of course." He figured she'd ask him to be her servant. That was what the Howells would've asked. And it probably wouldn't be too bad working for her for a few days. Most likely he'd get on her nerves and she'd release him from the debt. That was what usually happened in such cases.
But then she said, "Well, in that case, I would like to teach you to be the world's greatest lover." And for the second time he was too stunned to move.
Mrs. Howell had once given him lessons on how to court Mary Ann, but Mr. Howell gave lessons to the Skipper, while Ginger taught the Professor. The castaways were trying to distract the farmgirl from the news that her boyfriend had married another woman, but then it turned out that Mary Ann had only been pretending to have a boyfriend. And anyway Mrs. Howell's lessons were more about being suave and charming, like Charles Boyer, than about being a "lover."
Ginger had over the last three years given Gilligan lots of kisses, but they seemed to be driven by interior motives, her trying to get something out of him, rather than by a desire to instruct, although he supposed he'd learned things from the kisses.
After he stood there for a minute, not doing or saying anything, she said, "Most men would be incredibly flattered and grateful for that offer."
"Um, thank you. But why me?"
"I think you have a great deal of potential. And I won't have to undo another woman's handiwork. I can mold you into the perfect lover."
"Uh, not that I don't appreciate the offer and all, but why bother?"
She shrugged. "Either we'll be rescued someday and you'll have a chance to meet many women, or we won't be rescued and I'll never get to meet many men. In any case, it'll pass the time pleasantly while we wait."
He gulped. "When you say 'lover,' what exactly do you mean?" The Skipper had told him some about the birds and the bees, and he picked up some ideas from songs and soap operas on the radio, but he wasn't sure how it all worked in practice. Also, "lover" seemed to mean different things to different people at different times. In the old movies he used to watch on TV before landing on the island, a lover might kiss a woman on the hand, but nowadays a lover might be much more intimate. And what would make a man the world's greatest lover? He didn't doubt Ginger knew how to teach that, but he wanted a better idea of what he might be getting himself into.
She sighed, "Oh, Gilligan," and stepped closer. She tucked the flute into the neckline of her gown and came even closer. She stood just inches away and took his white cap off. She ran her fingers through his hair as she murmured, "A good lover knows how to please and to be pleased."
That didn't exactly clear things up, and neither did the kiss she planted on his lips, but for once he decided to just let the kiss wash over him, not worry about what she was really after.
She was the first woman to have ever kissed him. He'd always been shy with girls and there had been no real opportunities before the island, even when he was in the Navy. And then he came to the island and there were two beautiful girls, and they both liked him, but he was still pretty shy. One was the girl-next-door type, very approachable, but it still wasn't easy. And the other was a glamorous movie star, in fact a star whose every movie he'd seen. He'd had a crush on her since high school. But that didn't prepare him for her kissing him on almost a weekly basis.
"Charmed I'm sure," he gasped when she paused for breath.
"Hm?"
"The snake movie you were in. Charmed I'm Sure. With Sabu."
She laughed. "You really have seen all my movies, haven't you?"
"Uh huh."
"I bet you never imagined back then that you'd be invited to join me in a real-life love scene."
Oh, he'd imagined it all right, but there was a big difference between imagination and reality.
Before he could think of how to reply, he heard the Skipper bellowing his name.
"Sorry, but I have to go."
"Are you sure?" she teased, dangling his cap in one hand.
"If I don't, I'm going to have to explain to the Skipper later."
She put the cap back on his head. "Well, I wouldn't want you to get in trouble with the Skipper."
"Thanks." He hesitated and then kissed her cheek. "I'll see you later."
"I hope so."
He wanted to say more but he wasn't sure what and there wasn't enough time then anyway. So he dashed off, not looking back, but he thought he could hear faint notes from a bamboo flute pursuing him. He didn't know if she'd spotted another snake or was just amusing herself.