"Coffee and soda," the waitress said, placing the coconut cups on the table. When Skipper reached for his cup, revealing his bandaged hands, she wondered, "Say, what happened to you guys? You look like you got hit by a truck!"

"You're pretty close!" Gilligan informed her. "It was a car."

"A very small car," the Skipper added.

"That doesn't mean it couldn't've crushed us," Gilligan pointed out.

"Well, at least you're both okay, right?" she asked.

Neither of them answered; they just stared at each other.

"Okay, well, what would you like to eat?" the waitress asked, tactfully.

"I'll have prime rib and fries," the Skipper said, staring at the menu.

"Grilled cheese. Onion rings," Gilligan said.

"Okay," the waitress rolled her eyes.

The Skipper and Gilligan looked at each other.

"We would have so much fun starting a business together!" Gilligan exclaimed suddenly. "We could be our own bosses! Well, I mean, you could be the boss of me if you wanted!"

"No, Gilligan, N-O, NO!" the Skipper yelled. "It takes money to start a business, and where do you think that money will come from?"

"I have a savings bond," Gilligan offered.

"Oh, I'll bet you do," the Skipper sarcastically said. "And I'll bet you've got tons of money in there!"

"I do!" Gilligan said, defensively. "I bet I have almost—" he added on his fingers, "—sixteen dollars!"

"Gee, Gilligan, why don't we just retire as millionaires?" Skipper asked.

"Hey, what about you?" Gilligan wondered. "Don't you have some money put away for retirement? I mean, at your age, you'd have to be planning for it."

"First of all, that's none of your business, and second of all, I am saving that money for a boat," the Skipper said, reflectively. "A boat so that I can enjoy the sea in my old age, sailing around, fishing, visiting new places….."

"Well, why don't we get a boat, then? We could still sail to new places…..but we could take people with us…..and they would pay us!"

Before Skipper could declare the madness of this idea, the waitress came back with their entrees, and said, "You guys are looking for a boat? My brother Scott works at a shipping yard. He could probably get you a good deal on a nice little boat."

"See, Skipper!" Gilligan exclaimed.

"Gilligan, don't be ridiculous!" Skipper said, knowing that he was fighting a losing battle. "We—we don't have enough—"

"It'll be great!" Gilligan was telling the waitress. "You can have a free lifetime membership to our tours."

Skipper put his face gently in his hand. "Why me? Why not his parents?"

--

NoV: Okay! Good, good good…..This one took awhile, but I had a crisis. The girl that works at the store across from mine was robbed yesterday, and I had a lot of things to do.

Well, happy reading!