First mate's log:

October 24, 1967

Halloween is a week away, but I can't work on my Aladdin costume because we have another visitor. At first, when I found him sleeping in my hammock, I thought he'd heard about our party and decided to dress up as Tarzan, even though that's not really a fairytale character. But he seems to be a real live ape-man. I wonder if he's Jungle Boy's father, since he doesn't speak much English either and they're both blond. Also, he'd be about the right age, since he looks like he's around Mr. Brady's age and jungle people probably marry and have kids early.

He's probably a widower like Mr. Brady, since there's no sign of any ape-women. Also, he carried Ginger off to his cave. She escaped by knocking him out with a coconut. The other men and I are heading out in a few minutes to try to capture him, so I don't have time to write any more.


Carol Martin's diary:

October 25, 1967

Now I know how Gilligan feels when he tries to tell us things and we don't believe him. Duke Williams has returned to the island, pretending to be "Tongo the Ape Man." I seem to be the only one who recognizes him, but it has been a couple years and we've had so many visitors. Of course I wouldn't forget someone who looks so much like my ex-boyfriend, Tank Gates. Mike teases me that I'm not really over Tank after fifteen years, thinking I see him everywhere, but Mike also seems jealous when I talk to "Tongo" and try to get him to admit who he really is.

The men captured him after he abducted Ginger, who rescued herself by hitting "Tongo" with a coconut. She tried to have a conversation with him while she was in his cave, and she says his vocabulary is as primitive as his loincloth wardrobe. When I've talked to him, he's monosyllabic at best, more often replying to my questions with grunts.

I'm trying to figure out why the surfer has returned to the island, but I'm baffled. Gilligan thinks "Tongo" is "Jungle Boy's dad," but I highly doubt that anyone could've hidden on the island three years without us, or any of the other visitors, discovering him. And the Professor thinks "Tongo" will make for a fascinating scientific paper.

Obviously, it's hard to focus on making costumes for myself or the girls, but likely Tongo will be like all the other visitors and leave us soon. If not, probably my fellow castaways will invite him to the party, even if his "costume" isn't from a fairytale.


October 26, 1967

Well, "Tongo the Ape Man" is gone. And he wasn't even "Tongo." We all should've listened to Mrs. Martin when she said that he was really Duke Williams the surfer. We captured him but let him out after a couple days so that the Professor could study him. Then a gorilla showed up and carried "Tongo" off. I had to dress in a gorilla suit made of Mrs. Howell's furs to distract the real gorilla.

"Tongo" spoke perfect English (well, better than mine) when the gorilla took him, and when he surfed away from the island, he left behind a tape recorder. He was keeping sort of an audio diary, so he could write a bestseller later. He said that after he recovered from the amnesia he got hitting his head on a rock when he landed in Hawaii, he tried to become an actor. He got some small roles in beach party movies, but I guess those aren't as popular now as they used to be. He figured Tarzan never goes out of style, so he wanted to prove he could get "ape man" roles.

And then he ran into Eva Grubb at a Hollywood party. They dated for awhile and admitted that they've both been to our island. She told him about her makeover and how she at first thought of trying to pass herself off as Ginger but gave up on that because it would be too hard. (She's now doing a nightclub act as a Ginger Grant imitator.) He decided to give himself "the ultimate acting challenge," by returning to the island and seeing if he could pass himself off as someone completely different. He fooled everyone but Mrs. Martin, who he said on the tape is "a sharp cookie." Then he partly gave himself away when the gorilla took him. We knew he wasn't Tongo but we (except Mrs. Martin) didn't know he was Duke.

He said on the tape that he's not going to tell anyone about us, because he doesn't want us to blow his cover, especially because he's not as brave as an ape man, or even an actor playing an ape man, should be. But he left the tape and recorder behind so that we'd know the truth, since he figures that either we'll never be rescued, or by the time we are, he'll be a success and it won't matter as much. And he's not going to write a bestseller after all, because of how things turned out, so he doesn't need the tape and recorder anymore. I wanted to use it to record music off the radio but the Professor has claimed it for scientific purposes, like recording the gorilla and other animals on the island. Also, maybe it'll come in handy in a rescue attempt someday.


October 31, 1967

Well, I was right about "Tongo," but I'm trying not to say, "I told you so," too much. It turns out that he came back as an acting challenge, one he failed because he was scared of a gorilla. (Well, it looked more like an orangutan to me, but I was tired of correcting people.) He surfed away, leaving an audiocassette as his confession, and then we were able to get back to the fun of planning the Halloween party, which just wrapped up.

I already told you about most of the children's costumes. Peter was indeed "Jack," while Greg was the Pied Piper because he likes music, and he is leader of the children, although usually not leading them astray. (They really are remarkably well-behaved considering they're growing up without civilization. Or maybe because of that?)

Gilligan decided to be Aladdin, since Peter was Jack. The Skipper was Sinbad the Sailor. The Professor was the Brave Little Tailor, the one who kills "seven at one blow," meaning flies, but a giant thinks he means seven men. The Howells were Beauty and the Beast, he using her fur pieces for his costume. Mary Ann was an adorable Little Red Riding Hood, and Ginger a seductive Little Mermaid. Alice was Alice in Wonderland, not strictly speaking a fairytale, but her costume was hilarious and no one minded. I was Snow White, and I would've loved for the children to be my "dwarves," but of course they all wanted to be the stars of their own stories. And Mike won the costume contest with his Frog Prince outfit! (Yes, I kissed him, but not in front of everyone.)

I don't know how we'll top this next year, but I'm just glad we had so much fun after all the troubles we've had.