Part One-Day One.
Since the lagoon connected to the ocean the water was salty and undrinkable. Ginger came by carrying a bucket. "Fresh water here."
The Skipper and Gilligan were hard at work attaching an extension to the raft. (They'd already installed a mast and a sail.) They nodded at her and said their thanks. Politely Ginger ignored the extra lumber- most of it ruined by Gilligan's mistakes.
She turned to the Professor. "And the calculations?"
He replied "Still the same. Based on the weather data on the radio in two days from now a brief unseasonable lull in storms and boost to the current will make an ideal condition to take the raft out safely and float into the shipping lanes near Honolulu."
She replied "Back to work so soon? After over three years out of circulation? I'd better practice improv." She put some sultriness into her voice. "Maybe you can help me. I'll be by the new well this afternoon."
The man of science replied "I have some experiments to wrap up."
She didn't miss a beat. She tried to use mild jealousy to motivate him. "Maybe one of you sailors could help? You could pretend you're on leave and out to show a girl a good time?"
Gilligan said "After we add this extension to the raft I need to gather coconuts for the voyage. But I can do it after that."
The Professor nodded in a friendly fashion. Ginger walked off, moving her body just so. She hadn't given up on him joining her.
That afternoon she did a few improv scenes by herself. Then Gilligan ran in like a bat out of hell. He was carrying no coconuts and breathing like a drowning victim. As he stopped he gasped out "Ginger! Do you see it?"
Glad for an improv partner she scanned the horizon "What am I looking for?"
"A dragon!"
"A dragon?"
"Yeah. It jumped out and almost caught me but I got away."
"What color is it?"
"Kind of Grey. But with big scary teeth."
This was fun. She looked then pointed and whispered "There. I think it's hiding behind those trees."
"Run Ginger!"
They both yelled "Ahhhhh!" And ran about 400 yards (366 meters) to the area of the huts. Gilligan began talking excitedly "Skipper! A dragon almost ate me! I got away while it chased a bird!"
The other castaways (except Mary Ann) gathered around. In the background soft music played on the radio.
The Skipper said "What's that Gilligan?"
"There was this dragon. And it was big. And it charged at me with big teeth."
"A dragon? Don't be ridiculous Gilligan."
"I'm not. Ginger saw it too. She told me."
The Skipper turned to Ginger. "Ginger did you tell him you saw it too?"
Ginger replied "Well yes. But I thought we were doing improv."
Gilligan was still breathing hard as he turned to Ginger and said "Improv? I meant to ask this morning Ginger. What's improv?"
Ginger "Improvisation. It's a sort of acting practice. One of us thinks of something and we act it out."
"Oh I did that as a kid. We called it 'let's pretend.'"
"Gilligan improv is totally different. It's serious acting practice." She paused thought and continued in a slightly embarrassed voice "Done while playing let's pretend."
Mary Ann walked up carrying mushrooms she'd gathered. "Hi. Hey Skipper I found a ruined boat." She pointed "almost half hours walk that way. Maybe you and Gilligan can salvage the nails or something. Must have landed recently cause I was there last week and didn't see it."
The Skipper nodded "Thanks for that useful discovery Mary Ann." In a sarcastic tone he added "Gilligan here discovered a dragon."
Mary Ann smiled at Gilligan "Oh you are such a boy at heart. I suppose it breathed fire?"
Gilligan replied "No it didn't breath fire."
"Well was it 80 feet" [24.3 meters] "long with wings?"
"No it didn't have wings and was smaller. But big enough to eat me. Maybe it was a kid dragon. It came charging at me with a great big mouth and all these teeth and I ran and jumped in a tree and a bird was nearby so it turned and charged the bird but the bird flew away."
The radio announced "And in legal news today preliminary hearings were to be heard in the case of a shipping company who lost a 150 pound" [68 kilo] "Komodo dragon at sea. The animal was being shipped to the Honolulu zoo. An accident damaged the SS Mayberry's engines. The SS St. Claude from the same shipping company came to their aid. A decision was made to transfer the animal. As the weight of the cage and the animal was too much for the ship's derrick the animal was fed to induce a sluggish state and transferred to a ship's boat while the cage was transferred first. A sudden storm came up and the boat was lost. Nautical negligence or act of God?"
The Skipper gave his opinion "Act of God."
"No precedent will be set. A federal magistrate pointed out that both companies were subsidiaries of Howell Industries. Embarrassed attorneys asked for a continuance to settle the matter."
Mr. Howell looked horrified "I paid legal fees to sue myself! Oh the humanity!"
Mrs. Howell reached for him comfortingly and said "There, there dear."
The announcer continued "Animal lovers plan a candlelight vigil for this innocent victim of humans lost somewhere in the Pacific."
Mary Ann agreed. "That poor creature."
The other six all nodded. Then Gilligan remembered "Mary Ann. That poor creature tried to EAT me."
The Professor explained. "Gilligan a Komodo dragon is a dragon in name only. It's just a large carnivorous lizard."
Gilligan asked "What's carnivorous?"
"Meat eating."
"Meat Eating!"
Everyone began to look alarmed at the Professor's words. Even the Professor.
The Professor thought a second and said "Adult Komodo dragons specialize in eating deer."
Gilligan asked "How much can they eat?"
"Up to 80% of their body weight in one sitting."
Gilligan tried to do math on his fingers. Ginger saw him holding up two fingers on each hand and staring at them with a confused expression.
Mary Ann asked "So 120 pounds?" [54.4 kilos]
The Professor said "Correct."
Gilligan said "Oh our poor deer. The herds are in danger. "
The Skipper said "And has anyone seen any deer on this island?" Everyone shook their heads signaling "No."
The group looked at the Professor who said "In that case he'd try to scavenge any meaty carcasses it can smell or attack any other large animal. Although it's not common documented cases exist of them attacking adult humans."
Again the Professor's words were met with dismay. Even by the Professor.
Ginger had gotten used to the dangers of the island. Most prominent being that headhunters may turn up again at any time. But a 150 pound predator! Suddenly she felt nervous. She tried to control her breathing, a tactic she learned in the theater. (Strangely it worked a little. She was that much less nervous.)
The Skipper asked "So we could be attacked tonight?"
"We won't be attacked tonight." Everyone else looked relieved. The Professor explained "They rest at night and hunt in the daytime."
