Mary Ann's ovulation soon became the catchphrase of the day. It started when the Professor returned to his experiment and found that he'd over boiled one of his solutions. Mary Ann's ovulation has put me right off my stroke, he muttered within earshot of the Skipper, who immediately picked it up and ran with it. Later on while he was banging nails into the palm fronds on the roof of his hut, he bent one by accident and declared, darn! Mary Ann's ovulation has put me right off my stroke!
When neither Gilligan nor Mary Ann returned to camp in time to start preparing lunch, it was left to Ginger to fix something up. Her attempts at fish pie were as disastrous as ever, and while the Howells, the Skipper and the Professor all stared miserably at their burnt offerings, Ginger said, that pie would have been perfect if Mary Ann's ovulation hadn't put me right off my stroke.
Mrs. Howell then raised her fingers to her throat and shocked everyone with I ought to be scandalized, but I'm afraid Mary Ann's ovulation has put me right off my stroke! causing her husband to almost spit a mouthful of pineapple juice onto the table, remembering at the last minute that a Howell would never be so uncouth, but then choking as he swallowed it down the wrong way. Lovey! He cried, his expression pained, as his wife smiled happily and batted her eyelashes.
There was one person whose stroke hadn't been put off by Mary Ann's ovulation and that was Gilligan. After she had caught up with him, or rather he had allowed her to catch up with him in the depths of the jungle, Mary Ann had dragged him laughing and protesting back to their hut, where she'd forcibly wrestled him into bed and proceeded to have her wicked way with him. His struggles never lasted long once Mary Ann's hands and mouth got going, and soon Gilligan was well into his stride and enjoying the one thing that no-one could accuse him of being bad at.
Afterwards, Mary Ann lay in his arms in blissful contentment as she always did, enjoying the deep rise and fall of his chest as he refilled his lungs with air. She had hoped he'd be willing to take her right there out in the jungle where she'd caught him, but Gilligan was still shy and hesitant about doing it out of doors and although she had tried to get him all worked up under the heat of the morning sun, he'd turned bashful and made it plain he wasn't going to play along out there.
Someone might see us, he'd said, pushing her hands away as she'd tried undoing his belt.
Gilligan, no-one's going to follow us after that performance, she'd laughed, trying again.
What about Gladys? he'd persisted, angling his lower half sharply away from her.
Gladys? Gilligan, she's a monkey! Mary Ann grabbed his butt, squeezing it through his jeans, making him laugh and yelp and spin in circles, his long arms flailing.
Ever been laughed at by a monkey? Besides, she throws things and she's got good aim, Gilligan countered, grabbing Mary Ann's hands and pinning them down by her sides.
Oh, Gilligan! Where's your sense of adventure, you mad, impulsive beast? Mary Ann grinned as she pressed up against him, gazing up at his smiling face.
Back at the hut where I left it, he replied, meeting her gaze square on, but then he'd been swayed by the imploring look in her eyes and he'd shook his head and sighed and then he'd kissed her thoroughly and she'd melted in his arms. One day, Mary Ann, one day. When I feel more confident, I promise. And Mary Ann had acquiesced, because Gilligan's confidence was like spun glass and easily shattered, and besides, when Gilligan promised something he meant it.
His confidence behind closed doors, though, was growing by the day. Skipper was always complaining that Gilligan never listened to a word he was told, but in bed with Mary Ann, Gilligan listened and he listened good. And even though he could still be a little clumsy and they'd both ended up on the floor more than a few times, he was a happy, enthusiastic bed partner and always put Mary Ann's needs before his own.
For her part, Mary Ann did all that she could to make sure Gilligan enjoyed himself as much as she did, but the raw power of male sexuality was more than a little awe-inspiring even in someone as sweet and non-threatening as Gilligan. Touching him there, let alone doing anything else, always filled her with a butterfly-inducing sense of fear, anticipation and excitement all rolled into one. After all, she had grown up on a farm, and had seen the unstoppable force of male animal lust in action every year when siring season came around.
At around 2pm, Mary Ann sighed and rolled herself off Gilligan. She sat up and stretched the kinks out of her arms and legs. "This is awfully self-indulgent of us, lying around making love all day," she smiled, pulling the sheet back and patting Gilligan's bare stomach with light, slapping sounds.
"It's your fault for ovulating," Gilligan answered back, cheekily. "I would have been knee deep in sand by now, digging the Skipper's ditch."
Instead of digging my ditch, Mary Ann thought with a naughty, private smile. "I can't see much work getting done in this heat," she said, stroking her hand gently down Gilligan's thigh. "This is more like swimming weather."
"Hey, good idea, Mary Ann," Gilligan said, watching her hand with interest, wondering if she was trying to get him going again or just being affectionate. "We could go to the lagoon. Boy, it sure is hotter than normal." And it's getting hotter, he thought, as Mary Ann's fingers worked their way back up his thigh to his groin.
Mary Ann turned around and settled on her haunches facing Gilligan, who looked back at her with a questioning gaze. Her fingers tickled the very top of his thigh where the skin was soft and velvety and where she knew he was super sensitive. He screwed his face up and pushed feebly at her hand, but she could see he was enjoying it, and soon his pushing became pulling and he gently drew her hand onto where he wanted it. "One more for the road?" Mary Ann suggested, closing her fingers around the wakening beast.
"I don't think I have much choice," Gilligan responded, settling back onto the pillows with a happy sigh of surrender.
# # # #
Later on, Mary Ann and Gilligan strolled hand-in-hand down the jungle path on their way for a swim in the lagoon. Mary Ann was wearing her black one piece bathing suit under her short-shorts and her gingham blouse tied in a loose knot under her breasts. Gilligan was wearing swimming shorts and his sneakers without socks and his t-shirt without his rugby shirt because it was so hot. Nothing but a tropical cyclone or a grasping monkey could remove his hat though and as they walked along he repositioned it on his head every time a low lying banana leaf or wayward fern tried to snatch it off.
# # # #
Ginger and the Professor were also down by the lagoon. The heat was making the movie star very frisky indeed, and she was sashaying more than ever. It was no accident that she was walking just a little way ahead of the Professor, and that he was getting a good eyeful of her smooth, rounded buttocks undulating within the tight confines of her clingy gold dress.
Roy Hinkley had brought along his World of Facts book as usual, but was having a hard time concentrating on it. Ginger seemed to be paying him a lot more attention than normal these days, and while his analytical mind told him it was perfectly reasonable that Mary Ann and Gilligan's marriage and subsequent sexual activity should have a knock-on effect and make everybody think more about...well, the physical union between a man and a woman, it seemed that Ginger had been affected the most. She was, after all, still a healthy, young, sexually attractive female, and the number of potential male partners on the island who were eligible had just been reduced from three to two. She must be feeling vulnerable, he thought, studying the movements of her hips and resolving to make notes later.
Ginger saw something attractive on the path ahead. A small, cone shaped shell with alternating bands of orange and brown. She made a little noise of happiness and bent over to pick it up, providing the Professor with a full view of her backside as she did so. Her fingers closed around the shell and she smiled to herself as she glanced back and watched A World of Facts fall to the ground with a thud.
The Professor gulped as his book hit the sand. How did I manage to let go of that? he wondered. He crouched down to retrieve it, tutting peevishly at all the creased and folded pages. My favourite book, he thought. It'll take forever to get these pages back into shape. When he stood up again he found that Ginger was standing right in front of him and as he straightened, his gaze rose slowly up her legs, hips, stomach and breasts before coming to rest on her pink rosebud lips. Talking of things being in shape, he thought, that's not a bad shape at all. A little asymmetrical in places, but other than that, quite aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
"Uh...Ginger, I beg your pardon. I didn't see you there," he mumbled. For some unfathomable reason, he was unable to tear his eyes away from Ginger's perfect pout.
"Look at the pretty shell I found," Ginger smiled, the sun gleaming off her white teeth. She held it up and stroked along its length with her fingertip, caressing its tiny ridges. "It looks like the horn of a tiny little unicorn."
"Doubtful, Ginger," the Professor smiled, "although it probably once served as the home of a tiny little hermit crab."
Ginger turned the little shell in her fingers, treating it like a precious gemstone. "Imagine being that tiny," she breathed. "So small, and frightened and helpless. How dangerous the world would seem!"
The Professor watched her caress the shell and felt the World Of Facts slipping from his grasp again.
"It must be awful to be so tiny and vulnerable, with no-one to look after you," Ginger said, bringing the shell near to her lips. "poor little hermit crab." With that, she kissed the little shell tenderly and brought her gaze up to meet the Professor's, her eyes all soft and smoky looking.
Professor Roy Hinkley dropped his book without another thought. He plucked the little shell out of Ginger's hand and threw it into the bushes. Then he wound his arms around her waist and kissed her hard before he had time to change his mind. Ginger was completely taken aback, but her shock only lasted a moment or two before she responded eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him back with equal passion, murmuring with surprise and sheer delight against his searching lips.
Quite a way back along the path, Gilligan and Mary Ann were having an unwanted encounter with Gilligan's monkey friend, the same one who had almost killed them three years ago by throwing around the things that they'd made from plastic explosives. The monkey was getting old now, but was as mischievous as ever, and it had dropped out of an overhanging tree branch right onto Gilligan's head as he passed beneath it.
"Oh no. I'm not in the mood for this today," Gilligan muttered as the wizened little creature began pulling at his hat. "Why can't you go and find another monkey to molest?"
Mary Ann stifled a giggle as she watched her husband battle valiantly with the monkey, who seemed to find its own antics highly amusing. The more Gilligan tried to remove it from his head, the tighter it held on. "Oh, Gilligan, just let him have the hat! You know he always brings it back eventually."
"Yeah, covered in mango juice and squished banana," Gilligan said, pulling the monkey's fingers out of his nose while the monkey chattered and squealed. "Let go, will you? Go pick your own nose!"
Mary Ann shook her head and smiled. The monkey was in a particularly naughty mood today, and was hellbent on grabbing Gilligan's hat.
The little monkey froze suddenly, staring out into the jungle with huge eyes and making a loud chattering noise. "What is it?" Gilligan asked, wondering if there was some kind of predator nearby. He peered into the jungle and as soon as he was distracted, the monkey whipped the hat off his head, bounded down out of his arms and scampered off along the path with a victorious howl.
Gilligan put both hands up onto his bared head and moaned loudly. "I don't believe it! He got me again! I can't count the number of times I've been outsmarted by that little guy!"
Mary Ann could. Gilligan was nothing if not gullible. The monkey had been pulling the "Look!" trick for years and Gilligan fell for it every time. "Come on, Gilligan, forget it. He'll be back when he gets bored."
"Not this time, Mary Ann. I want my hat back!" Gilligan declared and set off after the monkey, his long legs carrying him off down the path before Mary Ann had time to stop him.
With a sigh, Mary Ann broke into a trot and went after them both. Wait until we have our children, she thought. If they take after their father, we'll be chasing them all over the island like the Keystone Kops.
The monkey hurtled down the path waving Gilligan's hat like a trophy. As Gilligan began gaining on it, it deftly turned left into the bushes and headed down to the lagoon that way. Undeterred, Gilligan followed suit, shouting come back here, you hairy hat snatcher! His feet moved swiftly and surely over the uneven ground, propelling him through the thick undergrowth, his steady blue eyes keeping the little monkey in sight always. Moments later he saw the monkey break through the bushes and leap out onto the lagoon path. Following close behind, Gilligan burst out of the bushes and onto the path and suddenly found himself face to face with the Professor and Ginger engaged in the most passionate kiss he'd ever seen. He panicked and tried to stop but it was too late, his feet were moving too fast. The monkey's arrival had gone largely unnoticed by the smooching pair, but there was no ignoring Gilligan as he appeared at speed out of nowhere and inserted himself right in between them with a startled yelp.
Ginger found herself forcibly disengaged from the Professor's clutches by the unceremonious arrival of the first mate. She threw her hands up in the air and gave Gilligan her most perturbed scowl. "Gilligan!" she cried angrily. "Not again!"
"Hi," said Gilligan, waving feebly. "Nice day for a stroll, isn't it? Although, ah...it didn't look like you were doing much strolling." He flinched as Ginger took a step towards him as if she might suddenly produce the Skipper's hat and whack him with it. "Sorry, Ginger! I was kidding!"
"Well, you can stop kidding right now!" Ginger pouted crossly. "This is the second time we've caught you hiding in the bushes! What have you got to say for yourself, Gilligan?"
Gilligan looked from Ginger to the Professor and back again. "Boy, he sure is a fast mover," he said, grinning inanely.
The Professor coughed. He looked as if he wished the ground would open up and swallow him.
Ginger gasped indignantly, her green eyes widening like saucers. "Gilligan! What the Professor and I get up to is none of your business! He's perfectly entitled to kiss me if he wants! And who are you to judge, anyway? Just because you're married, you think you can tell other people how to conduct their personal lives? Why, I ought to...!"
"Not the Professor. Him!" said Gilligan, pointing at the monkey who had stopped running and was now sitting on a rock chewing happily on the brim of Gilligan's hat. "He stole my hat, I was just trying to get it back." Gilligan wandered over to the monkey and began cooing at it, his arm outstretched, fingers waggling. "C'mon, little fella. Gimme the hat!"
The monkey leapt off the rock and ran towards the shoreline, still waving Gilligan's hat. The Professor and Ginger watched as Gilligan also broke into a run. As he approached the monkey, the monkey leapt sideways, waited for Gilligan to pass, and then jumped up onto Gilligan's back, effectively pushing the first mate headlong into the lagoon with a loud splash before jumping off again and landing safely on terra firma.
As Gilligan sat up spluttering in the shallows, the monkey chattered loudly in imitation of human laughter. It jumped up and down with glee and finally threw Gilligan's hat towards him like a frisbee. Gilligan caught it in midair. "Thanks a lot, so-called friend," he called, jamming the hat lopsidedly onto his head. "You just wait- one day I'll find out where you hide all your bananas, and then you'll be crying!"
Mary Ann appeared on the path soon after, having followed the broken trail the monkey and Gilligan had made through the jungle. "Hello, everyone," she smiled, startling the Professor and Ginger, who were already on edge. "Lovely day for a swim, don't you think?"
"Those two," said Ginger, linking her slender arm through the Professor's as Mary Ann trotted down to the lagoon, not in the least bit perturbed by the sight of Gilligan sitting in the water with his t-shirt and sneakers still on, "are the living end. The living end!"
# # # #
Mary Ann, her hair safely tucked away under a fetching bathing cap covered in big plastic flowers, swam across the lagoon in a sort of clumsy doggy paddle towards Gilligan who had his arms out towards her. "How many is that?" she gasped, clutching his fingers and letting him pull her towards him.
"Five," said Gilligan, holding her hands as her feet sank towards the sandy bottom. "Five laps. Which is better than last time. You only did three and then said your legs hurt."
"The Professor did say I had to keep fit and healthy if I wanted to increase my chances of conception," Mary Ann said, matter-of-factly. "Here, hold onto me. I'll do some leg kicks." She turned her back to Gilligan and rested her head on his left shoulder. She lifted her body so that it was almost horizontal and Gilligan slid his hands supportively beneath her while she pedalled her legs in circles, kicking up little splashes with every turn of her feet. "Ugh!" she grimaced. "My legs are killing me already!"
"They're very nice legs, Mary Ann," Gilligan said. "Personally, I don't think you need to exercise them."
"Really?" Mary Ann said, getting breathless. "You don't think they've gotten a little chubby lately?"
"Chubby?" Gilligan said, incredulously. "Mary Ann, the Skipper is what I would call chubby. Not you."
Mary Ann kicked her legs harder, sending up bigger splashes that rained down on both their faces. "It's different for girls," she said. "Girls have to look perfect always. Especially girls who live with beautiful creatures like Ginger Grant. Her legs go on forever!"
"Your legs are perfect, Mary Ann," said Gilligan, blinking drops of water from his eyes. "They go from your butt to the ground and they look great in shorts. And I thought that even before I fell in love with you."
"You did?" Mary Ann stopped kicking and wriggled around so that she was facing him. "Gilligan! Even when you were all anti-girls?"
"Even then," Gilligan said, blushing a little. "I wasn't really anti-girls, just anti-kissing and stuff. I thought it was stupid." he grinned and laughed bashfully. "I don't think it's stupid now, though. Not with you, anyway."
Mary Ann drifted towards him and hooked her wet arms around his neck, bringing their faces close together. "You're a good kisser, Gilligan," she purred, her lips barely inches from his. "You were a little clumsy at first, but you soon got the hang of it."
"Skinny Mulligan used to tease me," Gilligan said, watching his wife bob gently up and down in the water. "Just because him and Florence Oppenheimer were always kissing and I didn't have a girlfriend. I'm glad I waited, though. Just think- if I'd met someone else I might never have met you. I can't bear to think about that."
Mary Ann closed the small gap between them. "Then don't think about it," she whispered, and pressed her wet lips gently against his.
# # # #
The Skipper made his way down to the lagoon with his fishing gear, still blushing from his encounter with Ginger and the Professor not five minutes ago. They had been standing right in the middle of the path holding hands and giggling at some private joke, and he had rounded a corner and almost ran smack-bang into the pair of them. His sudden arrival made them laugh even more, as though he were some giant figure of fun sent solely for their amusement. He had apologised profusely, of course, and The Professor had apologised profusely as well, saying that something had happened earlier concerning Gilligan and a monkey and they were still in hysterics over it. The Skipper had nodded his understanding and went on his way, relieved that he wasn't the cause of their mirth after all, but soon he got to thinking that there was something else going on between those two. Something had been slowly building up over the years and now looked to be really happening. Ginger was a fine figure of a woman, there was no doubting it, and the Professor was a handsome man full of boyish charm despite his nose always being planted in a book. When he thought about it, it seemed only logical that they would eventually become a couple. If anything, they ought to have become a couple way before Mary Ann and Gilligan had, but in the end, his little buddy's fear of women had been well and truly overcome by the sweet, adorable Kansas farm girl.
With all of these musings going round and round in his head, the Skipper was down on the shore all ready to set up his fishing equipment before he realised with a start that he wasn't alone. For there out in the middle of the water were his little buddy and the sweet, adorable Kansas farm girl smooching each other's faces off as though the world were about to end at any moment.
The Skipper's mouth fell open as he stared in awe at this marathon kiss going on and on and on, then he suddenly blushed deep red and turned away, fumbling with his fishing rod and almost dropping his bucket in his haste to escape back the way he'd come. At the top of the path he turned briefly, looked back over his shoulder, and was amazed to see the two of them still going at it. With a final shake of his head, the Skipper lumbered off up the path and decided he'd better go fishing in the sea instead.
# # # #
That evening, after dinner, as Mary Ann and Gilligan strolled back to their hut with their bellies full of blackened fish and roasted vegetables, Mary Ann nudged Gilligan and indicated the moon, which hung fat and low in the sky above them. "Look, Gilligan," she said softly. "It's a full moon."
"I bet it's not as full as me," Gilligan groaned, rubbing his stomach. "I'm stuffed to bursting!"
Mary Ann giggled. "I was thinking. Wouldn't it be nice if tonight, we...you know? Outside."
Gilligan shot his wife a sidelong glance. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
"Mmm-hmmm. What do you say, Gilligan? It's a clear night, it's warm and dry, the moon's full, and you know all the best places on the island where we won't be seen. Please, Gilligan? Please?"
Gilligan sighed and threw his arms up in a theatrical shrug. "Sure. Why not? Outside, right out in the open."
"Oh, Gilligan! Thank you!" Mary Ann squealed with delight and flung her arms around his neck, jumping up and down. "Oh, Gilligan, it'll be wonderful! Oh, it'll be so romantic! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Gilligan winced, his stomach contents churning as his wife bounced around, clinging to his neck. "Why do I let you talk me into these things?" he muttered.
"Because you love me," Mary Ann said, happily. "And after tonight, you'll love me even more!"
# # # #
They went to their special cloud watching spot atop the cliff and spread their blanket out on the grass. The full moon watched them silently, smiling its sideways smile, promising to keep their secret. It cast its silvery path over the sea, which shushed and rumbled its ceaseless lullaby on the rocks below. Above their heads palm fronds swayed gently in the cool night breeze, and the occasional chitter of bats could be heard. The bats no longer frightened any of them as they had all turned out to be harmless fruit bats, and when evening came and the bats went hunting for insects, Mary Ann and Gilligan would sometimes sit on the beach and watch them flitting to and fro like black dots against the darkening sky.
Mary Ann settled onto the blanket and held her arms out to Gilligan. He lowered himself down next to her and kissed her, and as they kissed, Mary Ann pulled him towards her until they were both lying down, the blanket warm and soft beneath them and the grass crunching quietly underneath.
"Isn't this wonderful?" Mary Ann breathed, running her hands down Gilligan's back and up under the hem of his rugby shirt. "I feel so daring!"
"I feel a breeze up my back," Gilligan said, then went "ouch!" as Mary Ann swatted his arm.
"Can't you be more romantic?" she said. "We're about to make love under the stars."
"Then I don't think it's the breeze on my back I should be worried about," Gilligan retorted, then went "ouch!" again as Mary Ann removed the hat from his head and batted him with it.
"I think you'll feel differently when we've taken our clothes off," Mary Ann smiled. "I'll be your naked Moon Goddess."
Gilligan stared at her, wide eyed. "Why didn't you say that in the first place?" he said, scrabbling to unbutton her blouse.
They undressed quickly, with Gilligan doing most of the removing, muttering all the while about naked Moon Goddesses. When the last stitch of clothing had been cast aside they sat on the blanket and stared at each other, unable to speak for fear of disturbing the moment. Finally Mary Ann got to her feet and loosened her hair so that it fell down over her shoulders. She turned around and let Gilligan see her from all angles.
"What do you think?" she asked, shyly. "Do I make a good naked Moon Goddess?"
Gilligan nodded mutely. He couldn't think of a single thing to say. He thought he'd never seen anything more beautiful than Mary Ann naked in the powdery moonlight. He reached out and stroked her smooth, silky thighs. He gazed up in adoration at her face, half hidden in shadow. He scrambled to his knees and kissed her gently on the stomach. He hoped and prayed fervently for the day when there would be a little Gilligan or Mary Ann in there, who could kiss him back from the other side.
Mary Ann put her hands on his head and curled her fingers through his hair. She sighed as he kissed her a little lower down, and then tipped her head back and moaned as she felt his lips between her legs.
They lay back down on the blanket and Mary Ann lost herself in rapture as her husband brought her slowly and gently to full arousal. Her back arched up off the blanket and she found one of his hands and guided it to her breast, holding it there, his palm rubbing back and forth across her nipple as he continued what he was doing further down. She stroked the dark hairs on his forearm and gripped the hair on his head with her other hand. Finally she thought she could take it no longer, and urged him to make love to her. I can't wait, she told him. I need it. Now.
Gilligan kissed his way up her body, his lips damp with her arousal. He stopped to give his attention to her breasts, holding himself above her but not touching her, except with his mouth and tongue. Mary Ann writhed under him, driven crazy by the cool air and the heat of his mouth mixed together on her body. Finally he kissed her deeply, his tongue inside her mouth and hers inside his. He reached down with one hand and touched her carefully, making sure she was ready. When she indicated with a soft moan that she was more than ready, he pushed himself inside her and began to make love to her, supporting his weight on his hands and lifting his upper body right off her, which brought more weight down to his hips and allowed him to thrust as hard and as deep as she wanted.
When they had first started making love, this is the bit that he was sure was going to hurt her, but Mary Ann seemed to like this bit the best, and he'd quickly learned that once he really got going, hard and deep was what she craved most of all.
Mary Ann clutched at Gilligan's shoulders as he got into his stride, his hips pistoning into her. On each downstroke she brought her hips up to meet his and soon they were locked in animal combat, their lusty cries carried on the breeze and out towards the moon which stood guard over their secret love nest. Gilligan's skin grew slick with sweat and her hands slipped over his back. She raked her nails over his shoulderblades and gripped his waist with her thighs. His movements became even faster, and then just as suddenly he slowed right down. Mary Ann gasped and held her breath, teetering on the brink. While her mouth hung open, Gilligan lowered his head and kissed her, his tongue exploring everywhere inside her mouth while she moaned in ecstasy. Slowly he inched his way out of her and then pushed his way back in as deep as he could, lifting her hips off the blanket with the force of his thrust. Mary Ann garbled in her throat, knowing she wasn't going to last much longer. Gilligan gave her five or six more of these slow, deep thrusts, then eight to ten rapid ones and that finally tipped her over. She cried out and clung to him as she rode the wave, and shortly afterwards he joined her, his damp head pressed into her neck, fingers digging into her upper arms as he climaxed deep inside her.
When everything had calmed down and Gilligan had stopped shaking from his exertion, he rolled to the side and pulled Mary Ann into their familiar post-coital embrace. She nestled her head onto his chest and listened to the pounding of his heart and the breath whooshing in and out of his lungs.
"Wow," Gilligan uttered. "Wait'll Skinny Mulligan hears I made love to a naked Moon Goddess."
Mary Ann smiled contentedly. "And how," she grinned, nestling her head into his neck.
They dozed off after a while, and when they awoke the moon had risen much higher and was now right above them.
"Guess we fell asleep," Gilligan said with a yawn. "Think we ought to head back?"
"In a little while," Mary Ann said. "I'm kind of happy right here."
Gilligan kissed the top of her head and stroked her shoulder and upper arm. "In that case, so am I."
Mary Ann stared up at the sky. "There's one thing you can say about this place," she sighed. "The skies are so beautiful, day or night. So many stars! Millions upon millions upon millions. You could never count them all. The Professor told me once, that there are more stars in the sky than there are grains of sand on the earth. And they start out like grains of sand but gradually other particles join onto them and they grow and grow and become hotter and hotter and that's how they become stars."
"Wow," Gilligan said. Then he lifted his head and tried to look sideways at Mary Ann. "When did he tell you all that?"
"When I made the mistake of saying I'd just made a wish on a shooting star. I got a full lecture on asteroids and meteorites and the futility of making a wish on a falling lump of molten debris."
"Oh," said Gilligan, his head dropping back onto the blanket. "That sounds like the Professor all right."
Mary Ann snuggled closer to Gilligan. "we'll go back to the hut soon," she smiled.
"No rush, Mary Ann," Gilligan said, wrapping both of his arms around her to warm her up. "I'm happy wherever you are."
"It's such a big universe," Mary Ann said quietly. "And yet still we managed to meet each other. Don't you think that's a miracle, Gilligan?"
Above them the moon silently nodded in agreement, its cheery face beaming down on them as they lay in each others arms and wondered at the fates that had brought them together.
Below them, the earth spun on its never ending journey round the sun.
And deep within Mary Ann, unbeknownst to either of them, one tiny cell that was different from all the others trembled and divided into two.