First mate's log:

December 20, 1965

I've been listening to the radio more lately. It's probably too soon, but I keep hoping I'll hear something about our movie. Instead yesterday I heard that Howell industries went out of business. Mr. Howell is broke! He was so upset that he planned to jump off a cliff, but we stopped him in time.

We're all going to teach him and Mrs. Howell how to live like ordinary people, mostly for when we get off the island. It doesn't matter how much money you have here, because we share the important things.


Carol Martin's diary:

December 25, 1965

Our second Christmas on the island, perhaps not our last. There's been no word on our movie, not that I really expected there to be, but it was possible. The only news on the radio that's been interesting recently has to do with Howell industries. First they reported that the corporation was ruined, and I assumed that that had to do with Mr. Howell's absence of a year and a half and counting. Then yesterday the financial reporter made a correction. It was actually Powell industries that went bankrupt.

In the interval, we all tried to teach the Howells basic life skills. I decided to focus on childcare, since with Barbara gone, I'm the only mother on the island. I can sort picture Mrs. Howell as a governess, although she's more scatterbrained than Mary Poppins. (I'd hoped to take Marcia and Jan to see the Julie Andrews movie last year but I guess we'll just have to see if on TV someday.)

Mike and I also had the Howells help us make Christmas gifts for Bobby and Cindy. We figured the toddlers would be less fussy than the older children. And indeed, Bobby loves his teddy bear, Cindy her rag doll. The Skipper dressed up as Santa again, and I'm positive it was him this time.


December 31, 1965

This is the end of our first full year on the island. I guess we really will be here awhile, although I still listen to the radio, hoping that someone has seen our movie. (It turned out to be another company that went bankrupt by the way.) I don't have any resolutions, just to make more animal friends I guess. I like the people on the island, but the animals don't get mad at me as long as I feed them.


January 7, 1966

Oh my! Two very surprising visitors have landed in the lagoon. Or rather, they crashed, that is their space capsule did. If they were from NASA, we could explain that we're "the chicken people," but they're two cosmonauts and none of us, not even the Professor, speaks Russian. They do understand some English but I don't see why they'd rescue us, since Russia is the biggest enemy of the U.S.

The Professor thinks their arrival is no accident and they're here to establish a base on the island. Ginger is going to seduce whichever of the cosmonauts is guarding the capsule away for a midnight stroll, so that the Professor can use the radio inside. It sounds like a very risky plan but we're desperate. (And I guess it's proof that, however passionate their movie kiss was, Ginger and the Professor are not an item.)


January 8, 1966

Last night, the Professor and I snuck onto a Russian space capsule! See, two cosmonauts landed on the island yesterday, but no one trusts them because the Russians and Americans are enemies. Ginger lured Igor away from guarding the capsule, but Ivan came back and caught us, after I broke the radio that the Professor was hoping to contact NASA with. (It's the kind you can broadcast on, not like the kind we have.) Ivan was mad but the Russians have promised to take us with them when they get rescued, because the Professor is the only one who can fix the radio.

The thing is, I overheard the cosmonauts today talking (in English fortunately) about how they'll get all the adults drunk on vodka at the farewell party tonight, and then they'll leave us behind. So now I have to sneak aboard the capsule again, and replace the vodka in one bottle with water. I asked Ginger if she could distract Igor again, even though he's the enemy, and she said she wouldn't mind making the sacrifice in a good cause.


January 9, 1966

Well, the cosmonauts have abandoned us, just like all our other visitors. This time is different though because Ginger necked with Igor. She confided in me because Mary Ann is so innocent, Mrs. Howell is so proper, and Alice is an old maid, no pun intended. I'm a widow but I'm also a modern young woman.

She admitted it was foolish, considering he was a Russian, but she meant to distract him and got swept away. I can't judge her too harshly, considering that sometimes it seems like we'll never be rescued. And she's used to meeting all those handsome, exciting men in Hollywood. Igor is the closest to the Rock-Hudson type that we've seen on the island: virile and charming.


January 21, 1966

I've been listening to the radio so much that I've turned into a radio. Well, sort of. I heard on the radio that there's going to be a typhoon! So the Skipper and I have been moving provisions and supplies into a cave. We were in a hurry and he accidentally hit me in the mouth. It doesn't hurt too bad but it knocked one of my teeth loose enough that I can now pick up radio reception. I get different stations depending on which way I turn my head.

The problem is I broadcast whenever my mouth is open, unless I find a frequency where there's no reception. That makes it hard to eat and talk. And if I snore or drool or just open my mouth in my sleep, then I broadcast, which wakes everybody up. So I'm staying in the cave tonight. I figure when the hurricane hits, it'll drown out the sound of my shows. Right now I'm going to switch to soothing music, so I can sleep. Hopefully I won't roll over in the middle of the night and turn into a clock radio.


January 31, 1966

It has been a month for radios. Gilligan even turned into one! That was hard to explain to my daughters, although they thought it was wonderful. They, well, all of us liked having an extra radio around, except when we were trying to sleep.

And then Gilligan accidentally broke the real radio, so we really relied on his broadcasts then. It wasn't just entertainment. A typhoon was heading towards the island! We planned to weather it in a cave, but there ended up not being room for all of us. By common consent, we agreed that if we couldn't all survive in the cave, then we'd face the elements together.

The adults that is. We of course weren't going to risk the children's lives. As I kissed my girls before heading out into the storm, I selfishly hoped that I'd be one of the survivors. But I knew that whoever lived would take care of them if I couldn't. I glanced over at Mike, who was hugging his boys, and I was sure he felt the same.

All the children were crying, even Greg. I felt like crying myself. But I tried to be brave as I stepped out into the storm. Some of the others were clinging to trees or rocks. But the Skipper stood with his hands on his hips and bellowed, "Not you two!"

I looked at Mike again and this time he nodded. We watched the typhoon from the entrance of the cave, often glancing back at our children. And then lightning struck and a very large tree fell towards us!

Mike pulled me out of the way just in time. I took a moment to thank him and then frantically turned towards the cave. The tree blocked most of the entrance. I didn't know how the children would get out. And then Gilligan was hit by lightning!

Then, as if the typhoon had done all the damage it planned, it moved on. I pleaded with the men to move the tree, although I had so much mama bear energy I probably could've done it by myself. First the Professor checked to make sure Gilligan was all right, which he was. Dazed and no longer hi-fi but otherwise OK.

Then the men moved the tree. But the children weren't in the cave! I nearly had a heart attack, and then Cindy said, "Rain gone, Mommy?" Marcia explained that they found a much smaller exit at the back of the cave and they all crawled through. None of the adults, even Mary Ann, would've been able to fit through it.

Anyway, I'm taking a break from the radio. If someone finds our movie, I'm sure one of the other castaways will hear about it and tell me.