First mate's log:
October 10, 1965
After I picked Gladys for the beauty pageant, things quieted down for awhile. But just yesterday an ex-dictator got banished to the island, and then this morning his supporters showed up and said their party was back in power. Last night I dreamed about being a dictator myself but, just like when I was president of the island last year, I didn't have any real power.
The boat he went away in was just a motorboat, so there wasn't any room for us. But he promised to send someone for us later. He spoke English but his followers don't. So the Professor is teaching us Spanish, because that's what they speak in Latin America instead of Latin.
Carol Martin's diary:
October 31, 1965
No one is dressing up for Halloween this year. Not after we became chicken people last week.
We actually had two chances to be rescued this month, but I wasn't optimistic about either of them, so I didn't feel like writing about either. First the ex-dictator if Equarico arrived and then departed when he was restored to power. He promised to send rescuers later, but his people questioned his sanity when he told them about us, so he was deposed again.
Then last week a NASA camera landed on the island and we hoped to use signs asking for rescue during the times that it was broadcasting. I'm still not clear exactly what happened, but it involved an exploding pot of glue and a bunch of feathers that Gilligan was collecting for Mr. Howell to use in a birthday pillow for Mrs. Howell. As Greg put it later, we looked like we were in a movie called Attack of the Chicken People.
He and all the other children, even little Cindy, thought it was wonderful fun. But you can see why Halloween would be anticlimactic.
November 7,1965
Well, I was rich for a couple days but it didn't work out. I thought I had a winning sweepstakes number but it turned out to be two years old. Before I knew that, the Howells were treating me like one of them and teaching me etiquette, just like when they adopted me. But it's lonely being rich without my friends, so I gave all the adults $50,000 each to join the Howells' "country club." That sure made up for the mess with the chicken people and the NASA camera. Even when they found out I wasn't really rich, everybody forgave me because I was nice.
November 8, 1965
I know this sounds silly, but I feel a little unfaithful to Tim. I danced with all the men at the Howells' "country club," this little area they set up to be exclusive, until Gilligan, who had what he thought was a winning sweepstakes ticket, gave us admission fees. I know Tim would want me to be happy and have fun, and it's not as if I spent time dancing with one man more than another, but I did feel funny about it. Anyway, the Howells didn't hold a grudge when they found out that the ticket was expired, and now Mrs. Howell and I are planning some landscaping to beautify the hut area, since the longer we stay here, the more pleasant we want it to be.
November 14, 1965
The island is sinking! I mean, we're not going to drown today, but the Professor says we have only about a week before the lagoon rises enough to flood the island. I suggested we all wear stilts, but I guess that wouldn't work for the toddlers. Instead we're going to build a big hut, on higher ground. Mr. Brady is designing it.
We're not supposed to tell the women and children until we're done because they would get scared. Not that I'm not scared, but I'm trying to be as brave as the other men.
November 16, 1965
The men are supposed to be helping with the landscaping project, particularly the heavy lifting, but they seem so sluggish lately. I think of how they delayed building the separate huts last year. I know this isn't as urgent, but I wish they would take us and our ideas more seriously. We'd hoped to have the project done by Thanksgiving but now we're aiming for Christmas.
November 17, 1965
Oh boy. I tried to break the bad news to Ginger and now I have to go on the radio. The men picked me to tell the women, so when I ran into Ginger, I said that we only have a few days left on the island. She misunderstood and thought we were going to be rescued. The Skipper ended up telling her that the Professor fixed the transmitter, so she went to tell the other women and the kids.
I'm going to hide under the tablecloth, while the Professor puts the "repaired" transmitter on top. I'm supposed to be a radio announcer. I don't think I have a good radio voice like Mr. Howell or Mr. Brady. But I'm the skinniest of the men and the one who can best fit under a table. I hope we can fool the women and buy a little time so we can finish the hut. I feel bad lying to them, but it is sort of their fault that we haven't finished the new hut. We've been so tired from their landscaping project in the day that we have less energy to build at night. Then again, if we told them right away about the island sinking, then they wouldn't have cared about landscaping that's just going to be washed away.
November 18, 1965
I'm so angry at the men! I know they were trying to protect us but they only made matters worse, including my ability to protect my children.
Yesterday Ginger told us that the Professor fixed the transmitter and we were going to leave the island. After so many failed rescues, it's hard to get my hopes up anymore, but I'll admit that this sounded more promising than relying on a dictator. So I went with the other women, except Alice, who was minding the children, to hear the Professor try to make contact with the outside world. However, it sounded like Gilligan with a French accent.
It turned out that the men had known for a few days that the island was sinking but they didn't want to tell us until they finished building a hut on higher ground. Then when Gilligan tried to tell Ginger, she misunderstood, so the men launched a new deception.
I was too angry to speak, but the other women suggested the men build a hut onto the raft that Gilligan and the Skipper used when we first came to the island. It wouldn't be big enough for all of us, but it would be quicker to make than the community hut the men have been building at night. Those two men could make another attempt to get somewhere, maybe this time to the island where Gilligan's ex-fiancée lives, since she must be safely Mrs. Haruki by now.
Maybe because the "ark," as Mary Ann called it, was a rush job, it fell apart while they were testing it on dry land. It ended up not mattering anyway because it turned out that Gilligan has been moving the Professor's measuring stick to keep his lobster traps in place. So I'm especially mad at those two, Gilligan for messing up the data and the Professor for not using a more reliable tool. I'm not letting Mike Brady off the hook either, since as a parent he should've known how I'd feel.
We didn't tell the children about the sinking or about the hut on a hill. We would've waited until we had to. I don't think grown women should be treated like children, particularly when we're more sensible than the men.
