Hiya! Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 1 so far, and of course Lilly, if you're reading this, thank you for all your reviews too because I can't reply to you through ffnet. It really means a lot to receive such helpful and encouraging feedback.
Well, here goes with Chapter 2!
The castaways watched, awestruck, as the acrobatic young dolphin broke the surface again and again, leaping high out of the water, twisting and turning in mid-air. Gilligan and the girls screamed with delight. Gilligan was practically in the lagoon, his sneakers drenched and his pants legs soaked right up to his knees, waving his arms, almost trembling with excitement as he shouted encouragement at the animal.
Meanwhile, the Skipper and the Professor stood a little way back up the beach, attempting to discuss their prospects rationally.
"It certainly is a healthy looking specimen," the Professor said. "It's young and strong, and certainly capable of swimming for miles."
"Do you really think we could train it to go for help?" the Skipper said, growing excited.
"It's worth a try." The Professor smiled as he watched Ginger hitch up the hem of her gold gown so that she could run along the shore behind Mary Ann and Gilligan.
"Oh, Professor, imagine it! Rescue, at last! Why, we sailors have always considered dolphins to be good omens. Maybe there was a reason why the little fellow washed up in our lagoon!"
The Professor regarded his friend with a cocked eyebrow. "I imagine the reason was, he just got caught up in the incoming tide."
"But you never know, Professor." The Skipper jabbed his finger up at the sky and lowered his voice to an almost awe-struck whisper. "It could be a sign."
"You're not going to start getting all superstitious on me, are you, Skipper?"
"No. But you've got to admit, usually our visitors are people who want to trick us, or use us, or kidnap us, or even..." the Skipper pulled his forefinger across his throat and made a dramatic sound effect.
The Professor smiled wryly. "Yes. I suppose you do have a point. But I'd still hesitate to call it a 'sign'." He lowered his voice and jabbed his finger skywards in affectionate imitation of the Skipper.
The Skipper responded with a comically hopeful look which made the Professor laugh in spite of himself.
"Alright, Skipper. If it makes you feel better. It's a sign."
"Thank you for indulging me, Professor," the Skipper grinned.
They looked back towards the water where Gilligan was still running back and forth along the shore, shouting and yelling at the top of his lungs- and for a skinny fellow, he certainly had impressive lungs. Mrs. Howell was starting to look a little pained, her hands hovering delicately over her ears, and Mr. Howell had begun muttering about dying of starvation, and if he didn't get something to eat soon he was tempted to take a bite out of their new friend, who was nothing but an overgrown sardine.
"Excuse me, Professor," the Skipper said at last. "That noise is really starting to bother me." He left the man of Science standing further up the beach, stalked past the grumbling millionaire and approached the first mate cautiously.
"Gilligan, would you stop that..."
But Gilligan was neither listening nor looking at anything but the dolphin. He was running in a sort of sideways hop, like a crab doing star jumps at the same time, waving his skinny arms over his head, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
"Come on, Splashy! Over here, Splashy! Splashy, look at me! Splashy, over here! Splashy!" With his eyes fixed firmly on the leaping animal, Gilligan ran full tilt into the Skipper, whacking the big man with one of his flailing arms. The two of them fought together in a tangle of hands and elbows until the Skipper finally took hold of Gilligan's shoulders and thrust him out at arm's length.
"Splashy?" the big man said incredulously, red faced with exertion already.
"Yeah, that's what I named him," Gilligan said, his head snapping back towards the lagoon. "Splashy! Splashy!"
The Skipper couldn't help feeling mildly annoyed. "Will you shut up, Gilligan! Are you trying to break the sound barrier as well as everyone's eardrums? And besides, who said you could name him? I'm the one who found him!"
Gilligan stopped trying to break free and peered at the Skipper, sensing the change in the big man's mood. He went quiet immediately. "Oh. Okay, Skipper. You can name him."
The Skipper let go of Gilligan's shoulders and turned to the chattering dolphin who was now walking backwards on its tail across the lagoon to the delighted cries of the girls.
"Hooray for Splashy!" cried Mary Ann.
"Go, Splashy, go! Dance for us, Splashy!" Ginger wiggled her hips as she tried to emulate the dolphin's moves, momentarily distracting both the Skipper and even Gilligan, who began blinking.
The Skipper cleared his throat, tore his eyes away from the movie star and glared at the first mate, who at least had the grace to look embarrassed. "Well, it's too late for me to name it anything now."
"I'm sorry, Skipper." Gilligan looked genuinely contrite. "I just thought..."
"Oh, you thought? Well, you sure picked a fine time to start thinking!"
"Sorry, Skipper."
The Skipper sighed heavily. "It's all right, Gilligan, I guess." He watched the dolphin sink back beneath the waves and roll over, exposing its white underbelly, putting its flippers in the air. "It's just that, well, I might have wanted to call it something else, that's all."
Gilligan looked up. "Like what?"
The Skipper shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe...Bob."
"Bob?"
"What's wrong with Bob?" the Skipper said defensively. "I mean, look at the way it...bobs up and down in the water."
"Why don't you call it 'Float'? Look at the way it floats in the water. Or 'Swim'. Look at the way it swims in the water."
"Why don't you stop being a wise guy?" the Skipper grumbled, folding his arms across his huge chest.
The girls put an end to their little quarrel by cheering again as the dolphin blew a spout of water high into the air. The breeze carried the spray towards shore, showering them with droplets.
"Splashy splashed us!" cried Mary Ann.
"We love you, Splashy!" Ginger shouted. "You can be in my next movie with me! We can call it 'Splashy Saves The Day'!"
"Splashy," the Skipper muttered.
"Yeah, Splashy," said Gilligan, "'cause he's always splashing. Don't you like it?"
The Skipper watched the dolphin lift its tail and bring it down with a resounding smack, sending up a huge spray of water. "I guess he does splash a lot," he admitted.
"He sure does." With that, Gilligan ran off back to the shoreline to join the girls. "Splashy! Hey, Splashy! Over here, Splashy!"
"But I'm the one who found him!" the Skipper muttered under his breath, to no-one in particular. "I saw him first!"
At lunch, over platters piled high with steamed fish, mashed breadfruit and Mary Ann's sweet mango cobbler for dessert, all the castaways listened intently as the Professor outlined the beginnings of a plan.
"What we need to do is first build a makeshift raft. Then we need one or two people to sit on the raft at a distance away in the lagoon. The rest of us will be on the shore. We need to somehow make the dolphin understand..."
"Splashy," said Gilligan.
"...Splashy understand that we on the shore need help from the people on the raft. Splashy must learn to bring the people on the raft towards the people on the shore. Once he's made the connection, we can send the raft further and further out towards the mouth of the lagoon. Hopefully by the time he's learned to bring the raft back to the shore, he'll be ready to venture out into the wider ocean and keep swimming until he finds the next floating vessel with people on it and bring them back to shore, and hopefully, to rescue us."
There was a hesitant silence broken only by the sounds of eating utensils scraping uncertainly across plates. Even Gilligan looked sceptical.
"What's the harm in trying?" the Professor said, a little agitated. He didn't like it when they doubted him. He was still convinced he came up with most of the best ideas.
"But Professor, it's just a fish," said Mrs. Howell at last. "What can a fish do?"
"It's a mammal, Mrs. Howell. A warm blooded, air breathing creature."
"Do you mind?" said Mr. Howell, leaning forward. "There are ladies present!"
"What's a mammal?" said Gilligan.
"What I just said," replied the Professor. "A warm blooded, air breathing creature."
"I say, Professor! That's quite enough!" said Mr. Howell, putting his hands over his smiling wife's ears. "Warm blooded, indeed."
"Dolphins are very intelligent animals," the Professor smiled. "You saw the way it responded to the sound of our voices just now. You can train a dolphin almost as easily as you can train a dog."
"Except you can't take it for for a walk," said Gilligan, grinning at his own joke.
"Well, I say it's worth a try," declared Ginger. "If I don't get back to Hollywood soon, that dolphin won't be the only thing that's all washed up!"
After lunch, the Professor set Gilligan to work on collecting materials for the new raft. Mary Ann offered to help, pointing out that she paid better attention to detail and had become adept at making sure all the bamboo poles were the right length and width. Gilligan countered by making a big show of protesting that she was a girl and unsuited to heavy work, but after teasing each other for a few minutes, the two of them skipped off quite happily together. Meanwhile, the Skipper wanted to go check on Splashy to make sure he was still there.
At the lagoon, the young dolphin swam in lazy circles, blowing the occasional spray of water into the air with a soft hiss. The Skipper felt his heart soar as soon as he saw the animal. He ambled down to the shoreline, happy to be on his own at last without any interference from a certain someone in a red shirt and white hat.
When the dolphin saw him, it rolled over in the water and waved its flippers in the air.
The Skipper laughed and waved back. "Hey there, little fella. How are you?"
The dolphin swam eagerly to the shore. It seemed just as happy to see the Skipper and opened its toothy mouth to emit a series of high pitched squeaks and squeals.
"I know, this is a crazy island," the Skipper smiled. "With crazy people on it! But you know what? You're gonna help get us rescued! What do you make of that, huh?"
The dolphin nodded its head up and down, up and down. It swam closer, rolling on one side and fixing the Skipper with one gleaming eye, its curved mouth seeming to smile at him.
"Yes, that's right! We're going to teach you how to swim for help. H-E-L-P, 'help'. From a B-O-A-T, 'boat'." The Skipper felt vaguely silly talking to the dolphin as though it could understand him, but he had often seen it work for Gilligan. Then again, Gilligan was unique. Thank goodness.
"Splashy," the Skipper said, shaking his head. "How'd you like that name."
The dolphin clicked and chittered and nodded again.
"I don't see what's so wrong with 'Bob'."
The dolphin laughed.
"What do you think? Splashy or Bob?"
The dolphin flicked its tail up and brought it down with a huge splash, drenching the Skipper from his head to his feet. The big man stood there dripping water from his chin, spitting water out through compressed lips. He grinned and held his hands up, resigned.
"All right. All right. Splashy it is."
He ventured closer to the water and perched his copious backside on a large rock. Splashy swam as close as he could to the shore without beaching himself.
"So, little fella. What brings you here? You lost?"
Splashy said nothing, just continued to watch the Skipper through his intelligent little eye.
"We're lost," the Skipper continued. "We're far away from home, and we just want to go back."
Splashy made a low, mournful squeaking sound.
"Are you missing your Mommy?"
Splashy made the same low mournful sound.
"I guess I shouldn't talk about things like that, huh. I should be trying to cheer you up, not bring you down."
Splashy nodded, ducked underwater, then reappeared again, water streaming from his head. This time he looked at the Skipper with the other eye.
The Skipper leaned forward, elbows on his knees. He soon found himself talking easily to the dolphin. "We miss our families too, Splashy. But we're like a family ourselves, now. Not that it's always been easy. Gilligan drives me nuts most days. I'm sure he'll end up driving you nuts, too. There's just no getting away from him here! At least in Hawaii I got weekends off. I had to drive up into the mountains to get away from him sometimes." The Skipper sighed and shook his head. "But even then, I'd get halfway through Saturday, and wouldn't you know it, I'd start missing the guy. I'd wonder what he was doing. He tended to hang out at the marina a lot, even on his days off. And every Monday morning, there he'd be, waiting on the dock, all happy and cheerful and ready for the week ahead. I could never stay mad at him for long. He's stuck with me through thick and thin, and that's something you can't say for most people nowadays."
Splashy chuckled. The Skipper chuckled too, astonished. It really was as though Splashy could understand every word he was being told.
"I guess you could say Gilligan's the closest thing to a brother I've ever had. It doesn't annoy me quite so much if I look at it that way. In fact, we're closer than a lot of real brothers." The Skipper's shoulders slumped. "Unfortunately!"
Splashy gave another chuckle, and then dove under the water and began swimming around again, heading out towards the center of the lagoon.
The Skipper sat on the rock for a while longer, feeling the clothes drying on his back under the early afternoon sun. There was something intensely calming about watching the dolphin glide around the lagoon. The surface of the water undulated as the creature passed underneath, lifting it in gentle waves which rippled out in all directions, catching rays of sunlight that dazzled the Skipper and made him blink.
How quiet it was right now. He couldn't hear anything but the gentle murmur of the water and the sounds of distant birds. Why, he could quite happily take a little nap. It wouldn't do, of course, not while he knew the others were working- well, with the exception of the Howells. But how easy it would be to let the easy movements of the dolphin lull him into a gentle slumber.
As he sat on the warm rock and felt his eyes grow heavier, the Skipper realised that he hadn't felt this relaxed in a very, very long time. Eventually he gave in, and let his eyelids close.
"Do you think the Skipper was mad at me today?" asked Gilligan, as he and Mary Ann gathered thick stalks of bamboo to make their newest raft.
"Why ever would you think that, Gilligan?" Mary Ann asked, curiously. She stood well out of the way while Gilligan brandished the machete. She liked the fact that all her limbs were attached to her body and wanted to keep it that way.
"Well, because I named the dolphin Splashy, and he wanted to name it..." Gilligan looked at Mary Ann sceptically, "...Bob."
Mary Ann giggled. "He did?"
"Uh-huh." Gilligan selected a strong looking stalk of bamboo and after pushing and pulling it to check its sturdiness, took a wild swing with the machete and chopped haphazardly into it. "Splashy's a better name though. Don't you think?"
Mary Ann watched him hack through the bamboo, his tongue poking out in studious concentration.
"I do," she said, admiring the back of his neck.
After a few more chops the stalk of bamboo creaked, groaned and toppled to the ground. Gilligan hefted it up, piling it on top of all the others he'd cut since lunch time.
"Do you think that's enough?" he asked, removing his hat and wiping perspiration from his brow.
"I do," Mary Ann said again.
Gilligan looked across at her, his sweaty hair stuck up at angles, before replacing his hat on his head. "Mary Ann, don't keep saying 'I do'. You sound like you're getting married."
Mary Ann put her hand to her mouth and giggled. "I do?"
Gilligan sheathed the machete and folded his arms across his chest, fixing her with a stern look. "Yes, you do."
"Maybe I'm practising," she beamed.
"Well, don't practise on me," he grumbled.
"I wouldn't dream of it," she flashed her most innocent toothy smile.
They headed back to camp, pulling as much bamboo as they could on a little wooden cart they'd built for just such a purpose. The cart wheels bumped over stones and into holes while Gilligan struggled to keep it on track without tipping it over and dumping the poles all over the ground. Mary Ann walked ahead and helped him by moving larger obstacles like fallen palm fronds out of the way.
"So you want to go swimming with Splashy later?" Gilligan said.
"Swimming with Splashy?"
"Yeah. I bet he'd love it. He looks like he wants someone to play with."
Mary Ann appeared nervous. "Ooh, I don't know, Gilligan. He's cute and everything, but he's a wild animal!"
Gilligan looked at her sidelong. "Scared?"
"Scared? Me? No, of course I'm not scared! What do you take me for?" Mary Ann put her hands on her hips and glared at him.
"Well, then. Want to? Come on, Mary Ann. I dare you. Besides, we've worked hard today. I'm so hot I might explode!"
Mary Ann sighed. She hated it when Gilligan dared her. Not least because he was so unrelenting. She didn't much relish the thought of him exploding, either.
"All right. But promise me it'll be fun, Gilligan?"
"I promise it'll be fun, Mary Ann. Scout's Honour." Gilligan held up three fingers and rewarded her with his broadest, most endearing grin which made his blue eyes shine and gave him dimples. Sometimes Mary Ann thought it was worth giving in to his dares just to see that amazing smile. She laughed at him and shook her head, and returned to clearing the untidy path in front while he bumped the little cart along behind.
The Skipper drifted slowly back to consciousness. He had somehow slid off the rock and was now sitting slumped on the sand with his back against it, his chin on his chest and his legs spread out before him. He opened his eyes and then immediately shut them again, wincing at the painful glare of the sun bouncing off the water.
How long had he been asleep? He checked his watch. Almost 50 minutes! Preposterous!
He opened his eyes, squinted, and looked out across the lagoon. Splashy was still swimming and splashing, but now the creature wasn't alone. Gilligan and Mary Ann were in the water and Splashy was swimming in circles around them, making cheerful, happy clicks and squeaks.
The Skipper scrambled to his feet. He rubbed at his tired eyes, inadvertently getting sand in them. Muttering and cursing, he lifted the hem of his shirt to his face, half wishing he could go back to sleep, where he was sure he'd been having a dream about a beautiful mermaid. Why did Gilligan always have to ruin everything?
He staggered grumpily down the beach. He had to tell himself that it wasn't Gilligan's fault. They were all excited about the dolphin. Gilligan was just being his usual crazy self.
"Hey, Skipper's awake!" cried Gilligan from the middle of the lagoon.
"Hi, Skipper!" Mary Ann paddled towards him, looking perky in her black bathing suit and swimming cap. "We tried to be quiet so we wouldn't wake you!"
"It's okay, Mary Ann, I really wasn't meant to be sleeping anyway."
"Why don't you join us in the water?"
The Skipper waved his hand, embarrassed. "Oh, no. I couldn't possibly."
"Why not? Splashy's friendly. Oh, come on, Skipper! He'll just think you're another dolphin."
"Yeah," said Gilligan, swimming over. "A big, fat dolphin. Or a whale."
"Thank you, Gilligan," the Skipper grunted. "You sure know how to make a guy feel good about himself."
"Splashy doesn't care," Gilligan went on. "He just wants to play. Don't you, Splashy?"
The dolphin swam alongside the first mate, nodding and chattering.
"Watch this, Skipper," said Gilligan. He slid the flat of his hand along the dolphin's flank and curled his long fingers around the edge of its dorsal fin. "Okay, Splashy?"
"What's he doing?" The Skipper asked Mary Ann.
"Just watch!" said Mary Ann, breathlessly.
With Gilligan holding firmly to its fin, the dolphin began swimming. Slowly at first, then faster and faster, until it was towing Gilligan around the lagoon like an underwater bullet while the first mate streaked across the surface, whooping and hollering.
"Isn't it amazing?" Mary Ann cried. "I don't know how he does it! Any normal person would be terrified!"
"You said it, Mary Ann. Any normal person would be terrified. Luckily we know Gilligan's not normal."
"Oh, he's fine, Skipper," Mary Ann laughed. "This is the third time he's done it."
"The third?" Skipper blinked. "Was I really that fast asleep?"
"Uh-huh," Mary Ann smiled, her eyes still glued to Gilligan. "You were so fast asleep you were snoring."
The Skipper felt the blush of embarrassment rising up his neck. He was about to start apologising when his little buddy let out a loud yell. The dolphin had towed him under the waterfall and back out the other side where he re-emerged, shaking the water out of his hair, laughing like a lunatic.
Mary Ann clapped her hands, delighted at her friend's antics. "Come on, Skipper. Join us for a swim! Besides, the water's so cool and refreshing."
"No, it's okay, Mary Ann. I think I'll go see how the Professor's coming along with his plans."
Mary Ann gave him a sad look. "Well, okay. But if you change your mind?"
"Sure, Mary Ann." The Skipper smiled, but he knew he wouldn't. He dusted the sand off his pants and threw one last glance at Gilligan before starting back up the beach.
Splashy and Gilligan returned to Mary Ann and Gilligan let go of the dorsal fin, gliding to a smooth halt right in front of the young woman.
"Ta daa! Not bad, huh?" he grinned. Then he saw the Skipper heading away from them. "Hey, where's Skipper going? Skipper, hey, Skipper! Where are you going?"
"Back to the huts," the Skipper said. "You three are enjoying yourselves so much, I just thought..."
Gilligan sank down in the water up to his chin. "I did it again, didn't I?"
"Did what?" asked Mary Ann.
"Well, the Skipper's the one who found Splashy, and I just keep getting in the way."
Mary Ann looked puzzled. "Oh, but I'm sure the Skipper doesn't see it like that!"
"Wanna bet?"
The Skipper did indeed look thoroughly dejected, staring back at them from the top of the beach.
Then Splashy began to squeak loudly. He swam away from Gilligan and raised himself up on his tail, wiggling backwards across the water, looking straight at the Skipper, almost agitated in his behaviour.
"See, Skipper? Splashy doesn't want you to go, either!"
The Skipper felt his heart soar once more. It really did appear that the animal was looking right at him, calling for him to come play. It struck him that it had also been a long time since anything or anyone had been this enthusiastic to see him. The Skipper had always loved meeting new people, experiencing new pleasures, welcoming new faces aboard the Minnow. He had always needed his days to be filled with newness. And now here was something new, something he'd never experienced before, and he was walking away from it.
Pull yourself together, Grumby! His conscience spoke loudly, rattling the inside of his head. You're far from finished. So you lost a boat. Sure, the loss of any vessel is a tragedy. But no-one died, and it wasn't your fault. How long are you going to keep harbouring this silly guilt? How long are you going to keep avoiding the 'now' in favour of the 'what might have been'?
There was now a cacophony of noise coming from the lagoon. Gilligan and Mary Ann had joined in with Splashy and were now chanting "Skipp-er! Skipp-er! Skipp-er!" and smacking their hands down on the surface of the water.
"Oh, but I'm not dressed for swimming!" the Skipper protested.
"So, go get dressed for swimming!" Gilligan shouted, before resuming his chanting. "Skipp-er! Skipp-er! Skipp-er!"
The Skipper finally gave in. He laughed out loud. "Oh, all right, you win!"
Gilligan and Mary Ann burst into spontaneous applause and Splashy danced on his tail and wiggled his whole body with joy.
"Stay there!" the Skipper grinned. "I'll be right back!"
The Professor was standing at the bamboo table sketching out some plans when the Skipper came running into camp, breathless and excited.
"Hey, Professor, you'll never guess what!" The big man could hardly contain his excitement.
The Professor looked up, wondering what on earth had gotten into the man, who was bouncing around on the balls of his feet and acting more like Gilligan than the captain of a ship. "The Martians have landed?" he ventured.
"No! Besides, the Martians are yesterday's news. Something way more exciting! I'm going swimming with Splashy!" With that, the Skipper broke into an almost dancing run, kicking up clouds of sand as he dashed off to his hut to get changed into his swimming shorts, all the while singing, "I'm going swimming with Splashy! I'm going swimming with Splashy!"
The Professor stared after him in bemusement, scratching the back of his neck. "I believe the poor man must have heatstroke," he chuckled, before removing the pencil from behind his ear and returning his attentions to his plans.
to be continued...