"Gilligan do this, Gilligan do that!" Gilligan muttered angrily, swinging at a palm leaf with his machete. "I could just do whatever I want if my name wasn't Gilligan!"
The Skipper had had him doing all sorts of chores that day- He even missed lunch, because the Skipper wouldn't let him eat until he was done collecting firewood. They hadn't even needed it, either. There was already a pile stacked neatly by the supply hut, waiting to get all burnt up.
Gilligan supposed it was the Skipper's way of punishing him for that last botched rescue mission. They'd all been so sure they would be rescued that time, too. And the Skipper didn't need to punish him, Gilligan felt bad enough about it already. Finally, after he'd been asked to fetch water twice and gotten yelled at for not collecting coconuts when he had, Gilligan slipped into the jungle to be by himself. Maybe he'd spend a few days in one of the caves on the other side of the island.
It wasn't just the Skipper, either. After he tripped over Mr. Howell's bamboo polo pony, (And almost knocked Mrs. Howell over in the process) the billionaire had cried, "Gilligan!" then told him to make himself scarce before he ruined anything else. Gilligan had said that he would, if only he knew what scarce meant. Mr. Howell didn't tell him, too busy fussing over his pony. Mrs. Howell knew what he meant, though. She was a real smart lady. She said, "Gilligan, dear boy. I believe he means to tell you to go away."
He'd accidentally knocked over the laundry, too, when he went down to the lagoon to check the lobster traps. It wasn't his fault, honest. But he'd been running down the path, since the Skipper yelled at him to hurry, and he made a sharp turn and ran right into the basket. Ginger had been so upset, she'd spent hours on that laundry, and now she had to start all over again, all thanks to Gilligan.
And when Gilligan was done checking the lobster traps -it wasn't hard, since there were no lobsters in them to pinch him, thank goodness- the Professor got mad at him for stepping on the plant he'd been looking at. Gilligan hadn't meant to, really, he hadn't. He tripped. But that didn't stop the Professor from telling him to watch his step around the rare Microlepia Strigosa he'd found. Gilligan wasn't sure what that meant, either, until the Professor sighed in an exasperated way and told him, "The plant, Gilligan! The plant!"
And even Mary Ann was upset with him today. But it really wasn't Gilligan's fault- He'd just been so hungry, what with missing lunch and all, and the coconut crème pie left in the clearing was too delicious to pass up. How was he to know Mary Ann had been saving that for dessert? Well, okay. Maybe that was his fault. But he was hungry!
And so Gilligan had decided it was better that he just disappeared for a while, so the others wouldn't get any more angry with him than they already were.
It hadn't escaped his notice that he was doing most of the other castaways' chores today. Why did everyone feel like they could boss him around, just because the Skipper did? The Skipper was paying him... Or he would be, if they were still in Hawaii.
He would go back tomorrow, maybe, Gilligan decided, or the day after. Because he knew they didn't mean to be angry at him, just as he didn't mean to mess up all those rescues, or trip over Mr. Howell's polo pony, or knock over the laundry, or step on the Professor's plants, or- Well, that probably wasn't the last of Mary Ann's pies that he'd steal from the clearing, but that wasn't the point.
A/N: Gods, it has been a while since I wrote anything for Gilligan's Island! I'm quite excited. Two years ago today, I posted my very first story, A Story of Love, under the pen name Mary Ann Gilligan. (It's terribly cheesy and simple, but I love it anyway.) And in honour of that, I wrote this. I hope my writing has improved since then. :D I feel a bit rusty in GI writing though, seeing as I haven't seen the majority of the shows in almost two years... I re-watched most of the first season this week, but there wasn't time to see all of it. So, hopefully it's good. :)
And I know I already said thanks, but I'm going to say it again: Teobi, you are amazing, and thank you for helping me with my first story two years ago. And you too, JWood! You're great. You both helped me so much when I was starting out. :D
