4. Shrinking
11:32 AM day 1
"There's no doubt about it." The Professor said as he rolled up the measuring tape. "Five three. You are definitely shrinking."
"Are you sure?" Gilligan asked, getting more upset by the second. "I never shrank before!"
"I've never heard of anybody shrinking before." Mary Ann added.
"Obviously it was instigated by the jolt Gilligan received from that device in the supply hut."
The first mate's eyes widened with a mixture of fascination and horror. "It's a shrink ray!"
The Professor nodded. "For lack of a better title, yes."
"Wow! A real shrink ray. Just like in 'The Adventures of X-Ray Man #10'. See, Dr. Teeth thought that if he shrank X-Ray Man he wouldn't be able to stop his evil plan to take over the world. So Dr. Teeth lured X-Ray Man into an old abandoned warehouse. He stepped out of the shadows and said: 'So, we meet again X-Ray Man!' And before he could do anything Dr. Teeth pulled the shrink ray out of his coat and fired. And 'ZAP' X-Ray Man shrank to only an inch high. That would have been the end of him but Dr. Teeth hadn't counted on Speedo, X-Ray Man's sidekick the radioactive daschund..."
"That's enough, Gilligan!" The Skipper shouted irritably. He was having a hard time grasping the whole situation and his first mate's narration did nothing to help his concentration.
Gilligan was quiet for a moment, but soon spoke up again. "It's too bad we didn't have this when Leo was here."
The Skipper frowned. "You mean the lion?"
Gilligan nodded. "Yeah. We coulda shrank him down to the size of a kitty cat. Then he wouldn't have been dangerous and he could have stayed."
The Skipper rolled his eyes. "The last thing you need is more pets."
The Professor smiled at the proposition. "Unfortunately, Gilligan, this 'shrink ray', as you call it, appears to work differently from the one in your comic book."
"Different how?"
"The one in the story caused an instantaneous decrease in size. Whereas you are shrinking gradually."
"I am? You mean I'm still shrinking?" Gilligan's voice rose an octave.
The Professor nodded. "Even as we speak."
"How fast?" Mary Ann asked. "He caught that thing just this morning."
"If my calculations are correct, assuming the progression began when the beam made contact, his size is decreasing at a rate of two inches per hour."
"When am I going to stop?" The first mate was beginning to get worried. Being a few inches shorter didn't bother him but being a few feet shorter certainly did.
"I don't know." The Professor gave a helpless shrug. "I'll have to study the machine more closely and see if I can find a way to reverse the process."
"What am I supposed to do till then?"
"Just proceed with business as usual until I find a way to counteract the affects of the ray."
"B…But what if you don't find one?"
"You'll just be smaller, that's all."
That seemed to put Gilligan's mind at ease. "Oh. I guess that's not so bad. Nobody ever died from being small, right Professor?"
The Professor nodded. "Right. Now, why don't you and Mary Ann go finish the laundry and I'll get to work."
"And after you're through with that get some dates for lunch." The Skipper added
"Aye, aye, sir!" Gilligan gave a crisp salute then he and Mary Ann left the hut for the second time that day.
As soon as they left the Professor's calm demeanor vanished and he began rushing to gather various tools and instruments.
The uncharacteristic urgency was not lost to the Skipper. "What's really wrong with him? I can take it. The truth, now, Professor."
He paused in his search to address the captain. "The truth is, I didn't tell Gilligan the whole truth."
"Well?" The Skipper prompted, clearly frightened for his young friend.
"If his size keeps decreasing at the current rate he will shrink out of existence by 7:00 tomorrow evening."
The captain's jaw dropped in horror. "You mean tomorrow evening he'll be..." He just couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.
The Professor nodded gravely. "If I can't reverse the shrinking process. That's why I must begin testing the device immediately."
"Can I help in any way? I mean, maybe it would go faster with the two of us working on it."
"Skipper," The Professor said with a wry smile. "Do you know anything about theoretical physics or advanced electronics?"
"You got a point there, Professor."
"I'll tell you what you can do. I need complete, uninterrupted concentration. So keep everybody out of the supply hut." He picked up his bag of tools, but paused in the doorway. "...Especially Gilligan."
"Don't worry, Professor." The Skipper said with a hint of a sly grin. "I'll keep him busy."
True to his word the captain kept his first mate hopping all day. When he was finished with helping Mary Ann with the laundry the Skipper had him check the lobster traps then sent him to the Howell's to fix Mr. Howell's 'polo pony'...again.
"Oh, there you are, my boy!" Mr. Howell said jovially, waving Gilligan over to where he and his wife lounged under their palm umbrella. "Is it finished?"
Gilligan nodded. "I put a new leg on it and everything."
"Come closer, Gilligan." Mrs. Howell beaconed him over with one white-gloved hand while lifting her glasses to her nose with the other. Gilligan stood in confused silence, as she looked him over from head to toe.
"Is something wrong, Mrs. Howell?" He finally asked.
Ignoring the question she turned to her husband, gesturing with the glasses. "You know, Thurston, the captain is right. He is smaller."
The millionaire looked up from his tropical drink. "Yes, the Professor says he's loosing two inches an hour."
"And I know why too!" Mrs. Howell shook a scolding finger at the first mate. "You've been drinking coffee."
Gilligan scrunched up his nose. "Coffee?"
"Of course. Everyone knows coffee stunts your growth."
Mr. Howell groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"But I don't drink coffee." Gilligan explained.
"I know, dear. A dreadful addiction like that is hard to admit. But as my psychiatrist used to say 'the sooner you admit you have a problem the sooner it can be overcome."
"Mrs. Howell, I don't even like coffee."
Mr. Howell spoke up, trying to stop the insanity before it had a chance to go any further. "Lovey, dear, he's shrinking because he was shot by that infernal device in the supply hut!"
"Don't be ridiculous, Thurston." She dismissed the idea with a small wave. "You die from getting shot. You don't shrink."
"Not that kind of shot."
"Oh, you mean like the kind of shot you get at the doctor."
"No, not...."
"Gilligaaan!"
"That's the Skipper." Gilligan hooked a thumb in the direction of camp. "I better go." He hurried off, relieved to escape the uncomfortable conversation.
The rest of the day went by fast. The Skipper kept him so busy that he would have forgot all about his size if the Professor hadn't insisted he be measured every couple of hours.
7:00 PM day 1
Gilligan stood perfectly straight as the Skipper marked his height on the bamboo pole that served as a doorframe.
"4'0." The captain announced.
"I haven't been measured like this since I was a kid." Gilligan set his hat back on his head as he looked up at the marks on the pole. Beside each mark were his height and the time. The timeline began with '5'2, 11:30' and ended with the one they had just made. "Come to think of it, I haven't been this short since I was a kid either. You know, I never thought that once I grew up I'd grow right back down."
"Yeah." The Skipper said absently, trying to ignore the worry in the back of his mind that had been nagging him ever since his talk with the Professor. He shook his head, forcing himself to be optimistic. The Professor would find a solution.
"Are we done?" Gilligan's voice tore him from his thoughts.
"Yep, that's all." He put an arm around his young friend's shoulder. It felt rather odd, having to reach down so far. "I can hear the others outside. Come on, Little Buddy, I think dinner's on." He chuckled softly. "You know, now you really are my Little Buddy!"
"Ha, ha ha." Gilligan said with all the sarcasm he could muster. "I wouldn't be talking about size if I were you, Skipper."
"Why you...!" The captain grabbed his hat and made a swing for Gilligan's head. The first mate easily dodged the blow took off toward the communal table
When the Skipper reached the table the other castaways were already there. Gilligan was standing next to it filling his plate. "My legs are two feet shorter and I'm still faster than you." He gave his captain a smug grin as they both sat down.
"Well at least I don't need a booster seat."
"No. But you need a wider seat." Gilligan retorted as he sat on the bench beside Mary Ann. He stared at the table before him. Only his head and shoulders rose above it. Maybe he did need a booster seat. With a shrug he pulled his legs up and sat on his knees. Only then did he reach a comfortable height with the table.
Suddenly he realized that all eyes were on him. "What?" He asked, wondering if he had something on his face.
"Sorry, Gilligan." Mary Ann said with an apologetic shrug. "We just didn't realize until now how small you've gotten."
Gilligan looked down at himself not quite knowing what to say. After a moment he looked back up at them with a lopsided grin. "You know, my mom used to tell me I'm always hungry because I'm a growing boy. But I think shrinking makes me hungrier." With that he started on his dinner.
After a moment he stopped eating and glanced around the table quizzically. "Where's the Professor?"
"He had his dinner in the supply hut." Mary Ann answered. "He's been in there all day."
"I tried to get him to take a break." Ginger said, shrugging her bare shoulders. "But he said that he isn't going to come out until he's figured out how that machine works."
"Oh." Gilligan looked in the direction of the supply hut feeling a small pang of guilt. It was his fault that the Professor had been cooped up in the hut all day probably wearing his brain out on that machine. "Maybe I oughtta go see if he needs any company." He grabbed his plate and made a move to rise.
There was an immediate chorus of: "NO!"
Gilligan jumped, startled at the severe response.
"Er..He's doing some very delicate work in there." The Skipper explained. "He said he can't be bothered by anybody."
The first mate sighed and took another bite of fish.
"Oh, don't look so downhearted Gilligan." Mary Ann said. "The Professor will figure it out."
"And even if he doesn't," Ginger added. "I know girls who would kill to have your waist size."
Gilligan smiled a bit. "You know, there's one good thing about being small." He said, looking at his plate, which was piled high. "The food's a lot bigger."
11:00 PM day 1
Gilligan lay in his hammock staring up at the ceiling. "Skipper, are you awake?"
"I am now." There was a slight note of irritation to his tired voice.
"I'm scared. What if the Professor can't find a way to make me stop shrinking?"
"He's the Professor. He'll find a way." The Skipper hoped he sounded more certain than he felt.
Gilligan didn't seem to hear the assurance. "I'll just get smaller and smaller until I'll be so small nobody can even hear me or see me." The first mate swallowed hard. "That would be really lonely."
"Listen to me, Gilligan." The Skipper reached up and grabbed the edge of his first mate's hammock, tipping it slightly so Gilligan had to look at him. "That's not going to happen. The Professor will think of something."
"I hope so."