13. Down and Out

2:00 PM day 3

Gilligan sat sullenly on the edge of the fruit bowl in the center of the communal table. He sighed deeply, holding his chin in his hands he and staring listlessly at the woven palm fronds that made up the tabletop. He was stuck there, but it had been his own choice. The Skipper had given the little first mate two options, either stay directly with someone or be confined to the table where he could be supervised at a distance. The table was too high for Gilligan to get down from himself and all one had to do to check on him was peek out the nearest window. Gilligan hated the arrangement. It made him feel like a baby. It wasn't like they had to worry about him wandering off on his own again. After his experience in the jungle he was determined to stay in camp. He knew that they were only trying to watch out for him, but it didn't make him feel any less suffocated.

"Hi, Gilligan." Mary Ann said brightly as she strolled up to the table.

"Hi." He mumbled unenthusiastically without even looking up.

Seeing the dark cloud that hovered over him she sat down on the bench, concern puckering her forehead. "Are you alright? You look a little down."

Gilligan's mouth quirked into a faint grimace. "Do you have to use those words?"

"What words?"

" 'Down' and 'little'."

"I'm sorry. I just noticed you look like you're feeling low…" She caught herself and brought her hand up to her mouth. "I mean…"

He gave a dismissive wave. "Never mind."

"Gilligan, what's wrong? Why won't you look at me?"

"I'm getting a kink in my neck from looking up all the time."

She could hear the sarcasm in his voice but humored him anyway. Lowering her head and resting her chin on her crossed arms brought her down to eye level with the little first mate. Her large brown eyes watched him intently so that he had no choice but to meet their gaze. "Gilligan what's really wrong?"

He gave a small shrug. "I don't like being small. I feel useless."

"Oh, Gilligan, you're not useless."

"Mary Ann, I can't do anything!" He threw both hands out in one expansive gesture. "I mean, I like being lazy as much as the next guy, but not all the time. I can't even get down off this table let alone help anybody. When I was big I may have goofed things up but at least people wanted my help." He paused for a moment and in a quieter voice he added: "I'm really not even the Skipper's first mate anymore."

"Don't be silly. Of course you are!"

He shook his head despondently. "A first mate has responsibilities. He carries out orders, helps his captain, watches out for the passengers, helps sail the ship. I can't even pick up a mop to swab the deck!"

Mary Ann pursed her lips, trying to come up with something encouraging to say. "Gilligan you're—"

"Besides, I think the he's mad at me or somethin'."

She blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Ever since I was hit by that beam he's been stickin' to me like glue but after what happened at lunch today he'll hardly even talk to me. He just left me out here."

"I'm sure he's just busy."

"Maybe." Gilligan said, sounding unconvinced.

"Besides, being small isn't all bad. There are lots of small people that have done big things. Napoleon, Tiny Tim, Tom Thumb. Did you ever hear of him? Tom Thumb was the smallest man in the world and because of that he became rich and famous."

"But I don't want to be rich and famous. I just want to be me. And the me that I'm used to is a whole lot bigger than the me I am now. And the me I am now can't do a whole lot more than the me I was."

Mary Ann fluttered her long eyelashes, trying to wrap her mind around what Gilligan had just said. She didn't understand it completely but after a moment of thought she managed to get the gist of it. "Gilligan, what makes you you is what's in your heart, you don't have to be tall. A person's a person no matter how small!"

Gilligan looked up, deeply pondering those words.

"Maybe you can't do the things you could before but there are a lot of things that you can do now that you never could have done when you were bigger."

"Name one."

"Well…um…" She stumbled a bit, trying to think of something. "Thread a needle."

"I could already do that."

"You can…maybe…"

"Listen, Mary Ann, I know you're just trying to help and I don't want to hurt your feelings or anything. But I kind of want to be alone."

"Oh." She said quietly, trying not to show that the request hurt a little even if she did understand it. She managed a sympathetic smile as she stood from the bench. "Okay. I'll talk to you later, then."

2:15 PM day 3

"I'm really worried about him." Mary Ann wrung her fingers as she spoke. Her large brown eyes shifted imploringly from the Howell's to the Skipper. "I've never seen him so depressed."

"What seems to be wrong with my Little Buddy?"

"Well, for one thing he thinks you're mad at him."

The Skipper winced almost imperceptibly. He had been avoiding Gilligan ever since the incident at lunch. Gilligan hadn't been seriously hurt and the amiable young man had forgiven him instantly but that didn't keep his own conscience from holding a grudge. He kept going over what could have happened. The more he was around his little first mate, he reasoned, the more likely he was to make the same kind of mistake again. If his little buddy was injured or killed because of his own carelessness he would never be able to forgive himself. On the other hand he didn't want Gilligan thinking he was angry with him either.

Mary Ann continued without waiting for a reply. "But mostly he feels useless. He's so small that there's no way that he can help out."

"Aww. The poor dear." Mrs. Howell shook her head. "I could imagine one could get quite bored when one is so small."

"We've got to do something to help him." Mary Ann insisted.

"But how?"

Her forehead creased in thought. "Well, we have to make him feel needed. Maybe if we asked him to do something real important, something that we can't do ourselves…"

Mr. Howell scoffed. "I sympathize with the boy's predicament. But what exactly could we have him do? The lad can't even get down off the table himself. It's not as if he can dash heroically to the rescue. Unless, of course, we recruit him to scrape the gum off someones shoe."

The Skipper nodded in resigned agreement.

But Mary Ann bit her bottom lip. "There's got to be something we can do."

With an eager gasp Mrs. Howell exclaimed. "I've got an idea!" She twiddled her gloved fingers excitedly. "Me of all people."

2:35 PM day 3

"Gilligan!" Mary Ann called urgently as she emerged from the jungle and rushed up to the table.

Gilligan stood, looking up at the distraught young woman. "What's wrong Mary Ann?"

"Oh, Gilligan, I'm so glad you're here! It's Mrs. Howell!"

The first mate's eyes widened. The older woman had become like a mother to him over their island exile. He would hate to hear that anything had happened to her. "What about her?"

"You're the only one who can help!"

"I'll help. I'll help." He nodded vigorously, bouncing his dark hair on his forehead, willing to do anything for his friend. A sudden thought tilted his head and brought a frown to his face. "How can I help?" He looked down at his tiny form, sure that there was no way that he could be of any assistance. "I'm too…"

"Don't argue, Gilligan!" The young woman urged, putting both hands on the table. "We've got to hurry."

He stared at her cupped hands for a beat. For some reason the idea of her holding him like that made him uncomfortable. But it was for Mrs. Howell… Without another thought he climbed on and sat down. Greenery rushed past him in a blur as Mary Ann hurried back through the jungle. He noted that she was being careful to keep her hands steady so that he wouldn't fall off.

It wasn't long before they reached a small clearing. Both the Skipper and the Howell's looked up as they came into view.

"Oh, Gilligan, I am saved!" Mrs. Howell exclaimed, completely over-dramatizing. She put the back of a hand to her forehead, looking like a distressed silent movie heroine.

"I'm here, Mrs. Howell." Gilligan stood in Mary Ann's hands as they approached. Being one to take things at face value he didn't notice the bit of bad acting. "What's wrong?"

"My ring!" She held her left hand out for Gilligan to examine.

"What ring?" He asked in confusion, staring at the bare finger that was nearly as tall as he was.

"It's my engagement ring. I simply can't do without it!"

"Not to mention the doggone thing is as good as uninsured."

It was the Skipper's turn to look a bit confused. "What do you mean 'as good as uninsured'?"

"I own the insurance company."

"I don't understand." Gilligan spoke up, feeling quite befuddled. "I don't see any ring."

"That's because it's not here." Mrs. Howell answered.

"She dropped it, you see." Her husband added and pointed to the ground where there was a softball-sized hole in the sand.

"It must have rolled down in there pretty far because none of us can reach it." Mary Ann explained as she lowered him to the ground.

He stepped off her hand and onto the jungle floor. Bending a little he peeked into the dark opening. "And you want me to go in there and get it."

"I beg of you!" The rich woman over-implored. "It means so much to me."

"Sure, I'll get it for you Mrs. Howell."

"Oh, Skipper!" Mary Ann turned to the Captain, equally overacting. "How did you ever manage to hire such a brave first mate?"

The Skipper gave her a genuine smile in return. He chuckled a little. "I'll never know."

Gilligan stepped out of the sunlight and into the dark tunnel. It was several degrees cooler inside and he shivered a bit at the sudden change. The air smelled heavily of damp earth and sand. His wide blue eyes tried to adjust to the lack of light as he moved further into the steeply sloping passageway. He wished he had a flashlight or at least a match. It was quite cramped and he had to stoop to keep his head from bumping on the ceiling. The deeper he went the darker his path became and he began to wonder if he was going to have to find Mrs. Howell's ring by touch. Then there was a glint of light ahead. With an encouraged grin he hurried forward and picked the object from the floor. Even in the faint light the Frisbee-sized gold band and the gigantic diamond sparkled brightly. "I found it!" He shouted over his shoulder.

He was about to start back when he heard a soft shuffle. His entire body froze. The sound came again. Something was in the tunnel with him. As he stared into the black corridor he could just begin to see long, thin shapes surrounding a larger mass creeping slowly toward him. Gilligan stepped backward, his heart pounding in his ears. The creature stepped closer and a thin hairy thing brushed against Gilligan's arm. He took in a sharp gasp as his strained eyes finally made out what stood before him. Long black legs covered with prickly hairs supported a large two-sectioned body. The faint light glinted off of two curved fangs the size of steak knives.

He screamed, somehow managed to turn around and bolted, scrambling frantically up the passageway.

"Skipperrrrrrrrrr!" Gilligan burst out of the hole like he had been shot from a cannon, leaped onto the Skipper's shoe and tried to climb up his pant leg. "Pickmeup!Pickmeup!Pickmeup!"

The Skipper hesitated only a moment before reaching down and scooping the young man up in both hands. "What's the matter, Little Buddy?"

"It was so gross. Ewww!" Gilligan managed to shudder and cringe at the same time. And his voice trembled as he spoke. "It was the b-biggest b-blackest ickiest thing I ever saw!"

"What was it? What did you see?"

"Either a spider or a v-very h-hairy Volkswagen."

"What about the ring, my boy? Did you get the ring?"

"Yeah, I've got it right…" Gilligan's voice trailed off as he realized that the precious object in question was not in his hands. "Gee, I guess I dropped it. I'm really sorry Mrs. Howell."

"Don't worry about it, Gilligan." Mary Ann said. "We're just glad you got out of there in time." She felt a twinge of conscience, realizing they had unwittingly sent him into a dangerous situation.

"But I lost the ring." He said despondently, obviously feeling horrible about it.

"Not to worry." Mr. Howell reached into his blazer and pulled out a long wire with a hook bent in the end. "A Howell is always prepared."

Gilligan's eyes widened. "You had that with you the whole time?" It was more of a baffled exclamation than an accusation.

"Mr. Howell!" The Skipper bellowed. Their scheme to lift Gilligan's spirits had already backfired and the rich man all but admitting that the whole thing was a bluff certainly was not going to help.

"Well you can't expect me to drop something that valuable down a hole and not have a backup plan!"

Gilligan took in a breath of realization. It had taken him a minute but now all the pieces fit together. His shoulders slumped as everything became clear. They hadn't really needed his help. It had all been a set up. He didn't know why he hadn't seen it coming. After all they had tried something like this before.

Mary Ann saw the dejection on his face and bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Gilligan. We knew how bad you felt and well…" She let her voice trail of and gave him an apologetic shrug.

"You were just trying to help." He said quietly. What he wanted more than anything right then was to just walk away from the whole situation, to go hide in the jungle for awhile and sulk. But he couldn't even do that. For one, the Skipper wouldn't let him. For another, he was afraid he would get lost again.

Gilligan was usually so bright and chipper, a smile on his face. Seeing him so depressed tugged at the Skipper's heart. There had to be something that could pull his Little Buddy out of this slump. A thought hit him and he grinned. "I've got an idea, Little Buddy. Why don't we go fishing?"

Gilligan wasn't the only one who gave him a funny look.

"Captain, I believe anchor chain is a link short. The lad can't even get his arms around a pole. Of course he could always try for being the bait."

Although the comment stung Gilligan agreed. "Besides if I catch as many as I usually do how could I carry them back to camp?"

"Oh, come on, Little Buddy. You know fishing isn't always about fishing." The Skipper was hoping that if they sat on the bank of the sleepy lagoon in the warm afternoon sun, pole in the water, like they did every day the familiar routine and the pleasant, laid back atmosphere would brighten up his young friend.

"Well, okay." Gilligan agreed with some reluctance. "But you get to bait the hook. There's no way I'm touching a worm as big as I am."