First mate's log:
October 10, 1967
Wow, Mrs. Howell has a secret admirer! She's been getting anonymous love notes, I guess from the Skipper, the Professor, or Mr. Brady, since, as far as I know, we don't have any visitors right now. I know it wasn't me, and Mr. Howell wouldn't leave love letters for his own wife when he could just tell her how he feels, since she admires him, too.
The Professor is going to build a lie detector. No, I don't know why he didn't do that years ago, for more important things, like crime waves. I just hope they don't ask me who I admire, because it's mostly Mary Ann, but Ginger is really sexy, and if the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, then I guess I'd pick Alice over even Mary Ann.
Carol Martin's diary:
October 11, 1967
Mrs. Howell has a "secret admirer," so the Professor has built a lie detector to find out who it is. I'm very glad that just the Skipper, the Professor, Mike, and Gilligan were asked, because I happen to know who it is. Mr. Howell wanted his wife to feel special, so he borrowed some of my pink stationery and then wrote the notes on there, with his left hand so she wouldn't recognize his handwriting. This seems like harmless fun, which we need after all the drama of recent months. I feel a little bad for the other men getting caught up in it, but maybe when they all test as innocent, Mrs. Howell will think there's a visitor hiding on the island, one who isn't stealing supplies but instead offering compliments.
October 12, 1967
Wow, Mr. Howell is the secret admirer! I did not see that coming. I think it's kind of sweet, but she's mad at him because he told her he did it because she's too old to have any real admirers, like Ginger or Mary Ann have had, and like Mr. Brady admires Mrs. Martin. So, yeah, now she's kicked him out and he's moved in with us. I hope they make up soon.
October 13, 1967
Mr. Howell's gesture backfired, when he was caught sneaking the notes under his wife's pillow and then told her he did it to boost her ego because of her age. I'm fifteen or twenty years younger than her, but I understand why that upset her. She made him move out of the hut again, but he's already back in, because of a dream she had where he was her Prince Charming. I don't know the details, but she did tell me that Mike and I were the King and Queen, although of course we're far too young to be Mr. Howell's parents. Then again, Gilligan was the Fairy Godfather!
October 14, 1967
The Howells made up after Mrs. Howell had a crazy Cinderella dream. She told me about it because I've admitted I have crazy dreams, although she doesn't know all of them of course. In hers, I was the Fairy Godfather and had a groovy goatee, like my cousin Maynard the beatnik. Mr. Howell was Prince Charming of course, with Mr. Brady and Mrs. Martin as the King and Queen. Ginger and Mary Ann were the ugly stepsisters, and the Skipper was the stepmother! (I told Mrs. Howell about the time I dreamed the Skipper was my mother.) The Skipper was also, with the Professor, the naves who danced with the sisters, and Alice was the person who announced everyone when they came in, I forget what that's called. And the kids were mice that turned into horses.
Now Mrs. Howell thinks we should have a fairytale costume ball for Halloween this year. That would be fun, although I probably won't be a fairy. Maybe I'll be Jack from my beanstalk dream.
As for the lie detector, um, I broke it. Mary Ann asked me a question, no, not about if I admire her, but if I took a whole pie. When I lied, it broke the machine. Maybe it's just as well, like when we didn't have the mind-reading seeds anymore. Sometimes we can know too much about each other.
October 21, 1967
One unexpected effect of Mr. Howell's attempt to romance his wife is that we're going to have a fairytale-themed Halloween party this year. I need to decide on a costume soon. Marcia has already chosen Cinderella, because of Mrs. Howell's dream. Jan and Cindy understandably refuse to play the stepsisters. Jan, whose hair has only been trimmed since we landed on the island since she likes it very long, wants to be Rapunzel. And Cindy will be Gretel, since Bobby has agreed to be Hansel if they can eat lots of candy at the party.
(Alice and Mary Ann don't make candy as often as pies and cakes but they have come up with some tasty treats based on island ingredients, like using carob for chocolate. Bobby and Cindy of course have never had Hershey's or any other name brands like the older children remember.)
Greg and Peter haven't decided on their costumes yet, although I think Peter is leaning towards Jack (of the beanstalk) like Gilligan once dreamed about. Mike is being very secretive about his own costume, but I tease him that he hasn't decided yet either.
I just hope we won't get any visitors at that time and can just concentrate on fun among ourselves. I should mention that news of Jonathan Kincaid was on the radio today. He had a nervous breakdown during a shoot and when they took him away to a mental hospital, he kept muttering, "Gilligan...Gilligan..." I think he deserves more punishment than that, but it's better than nothing. It's only in fairytales that the wicked truly get what they deserve.