Okay, it's time to pick up the pace! Which just means I need to write longer chapters. Enjoy!

The Castaways had a pretty foolproof plan to get the Professor back. Well, that's what they thought. They were all sitting at the table where they usually ate breakfast. The idea came from none other than Mrs. Howell.

"Who does the Professor care about the most?" she asked. All eyes turned to her.

"What does it matter, Mrs. Howell? Either way, the Professor isn't coming back any time soon." the Skipper replied glumly. This was their fifteenth idea so far. All their other plans failed when demonstrated. Mrs. Howell smiled.

"If someone close to him was in danger, he would want to keep them safe." she simply stated.

"Mrs. Howell, are you saying that if he thought the one of us he is closest to is in danger, he'd come back to rescue them?" Ginger asked.

"Why, Ginger, you've caught on! That's exactly what I was saying."

"Oh how divine, Lovey!"Mr. Howell exclaimed with glee.

The other Castaways also caught on, realizing that this was a good idea. Their other ideas had mostly come from Gilligan. He had considered using a fishing rod, a trail of crumbs, and a butterfly. The Castaways celebrated and began to plan. But before they got very far, Gilligan finally came up with something that not only made sense, it was important!

"Hold on everyone. You forgot to tell me who the Professor cares most about!" Gilligan mentioned, feeling like he had missed something. Mary Ann smiled sympathetically.

"No, Gilligan. We didn't forget to tell you anything. We haven't figured it out ourselves. Mrs. Howell, who exactly did you have in my mind?" Mary Ann asked, turning from Gilligan to Mrs. Howell.

"Was it me?" Ginger asked in her sultry voice. "I can make him care."

"I'm sure you can, Ginger dear, but that's not quite it." she said. Mr. Howell turned to his wife.

"Lovey, darling, isn't Ginger the one we tried to set the Professor up with? After all, we wanted Mary Ann with Gilligan." he said, now a little confused.

"Yes, you are right Thurston, but I see that there is a better woman for him." Mrs. Howell responded, looking right at Mary Ann. Mary Ann blinked in slight confusion. It was true that they had once tried to set her up with Gilligan, but the Professor? Ginger was better at making a move on a man. They all knew that.

"Mrs. Howell, what in the world are you talking about? How could the Professor be interested in me?" she asked. The others were waiting for a response just as eagerly as she was.

"You mean you haven't noticed? Don't you remember the beauty contest?" asked Ginger. Mary Ann searched back in her memory for that day.

They had been arguing about who was the prettiest girl on the island. The Skipper voted for Ginger and Mr. Howell obviously voted for his wife. The Professor had chosen Mary Ann! She was a little astounded, but pleased that someone would say something like that about her.

Later that day, she and the Professor were at the lagoon, practicing. He had attached a fishing hook to her swimsuit so she could swim and not go anywhere. Gilligan, of course, managed to ruin the exercise by thinking the Professor was reeling in a huge fish. In the midst of the chaos, Mary Ann's swimsuit had ripped off! The Professor threw his hand over his eyes and Gilligan ran desperately in the other direction.

"Mary Ann, are you alright? I'm so sorry this happened! I didn't think it through." the Professor exclaimed.

"Well, except for the fact that I'm not wearing anything and I'm not sure how to get out of the water, I'm fine! What are we going to do?" she called back. His hand still over his eyes, the Professor called back to Mary Ann.

"Stay right there, I'm going to get you a blanket so you can be mostly covered." he ran to the huts and got the blanket. While she waited, Mary Ann realized just how embarrassing this was. She was stark naked and a man was going to get her a towel! When the Professor came back, he instructed her to walk on shore. He had his eyes closed and no one was around. When she had wrapped herself in the towel, she allowed him to open his eyes. The both of them were blushing furiously.

"Mary Ann, I-"

"It's okay Professor. You didn't mean for it to happen. Walk me back to my hut?" she asked. The Professor nodded, extremely embarrassed for her and himself. Mary Ann was embarrassed, too. But she thought it was kind of cute how he'd reacted.

"Maybe you're right. I guess I'll go through with the plan. What do we do?" she asked, a little reluctantly.

They knew their plan would work. Or they thought they knew.

Oh, this is getting good!

Later,

Annette