Seeing Double

Skipper couldn't believe his eyes- and neither could the rest of the castaways.

"Gilligan, little buddy, is that you?" asked Skipper warily.

"Yeah!" Gilligan exclaimed, smiling. He was covered in dust, though he didn't seem aware of it. He also was blissfully unaware of the cut that ran along his cheek, or the tears in his shirt and pants.

"Oh, Gilligan," Mary Ann cried, beaming. "We thought you were dead!"

"Skipper said you fell off the cliff," Ginger added.

"Wait!" Professor put his arm out to halt the excited castaways. "What if this is a trick, by the spy?"

Everyone paused, looking at one another.

"Really, Professor," Mrs. Howell began, joyful tears beading her eyes, "why would that spy hurt himself just to trick us?" She gestured toward the limp in Gilligan's step as he came closer to the bars.

"That could be a hoax!" Skipper said angrily.

"But, Skipper," Gilligan started, upset, "I woke up on the beach! I only have a few cuts- that I can tell! But I didn't really look, so I don't know what I have and my leg hurts!" His voice got faster as he spoke. "So I havebeenwalking along thecliffandIwaslookingforyouguys and-"

"He's Gilligan, alright," Skipper interrupted; he couldn't have been happier to see his first mate alive.

"Did you say your leg hurt?" Professor asked, concerned, as Mary Ann and Ginger ran to the bamboo grid.

Before he could answer, Mr. Howell said, "Boy, I'm going to have to fine you!"

"For what?"

"For worrying a Howell! The last time I was worried was when the stock market crashed!"

"Thurston, weren't you worried when your polo pony was stuck in a tree?" his wife asked.

"Uh, no," Mr. Howell replied quickly, "that was just a mere ailment."

The boy grinned at the two squabbling Howells. Mary Ann and Ginger suddenly began grabbing at him, attempting to hug him through the prison bars.

"Girls, stop it!" the Professor shouted, causing everyone to stop. "Now," he began, satisfied, "did you say your leg hurts?"

"Yeah, this one here," Gilligan said, putting his hand on his right leg.

"Excuse me..." Professor mumbled, pushing the girls out of the way. Gilligan winced as the Professor put pressure along his leg, and breathed a sigh of relief when he stopped. "It's just a bad sprain," Professor told him. "It should be better in a few days."

"Gee, how do you know that, Professor?"

"I read through my medical book two days ago, when you first saw your double."

Skipper rolled his eyes. "Did you read that chapter on first aid?"

"Actually-"

"Never mind!"

"Uh, Professor," Mary Ann spoke up, "is there anything you can do for Gilligan?"

"Not while I am in here," Professor said, getting up.

"I should think, not, Professor!" Mrs. Howell exclaimed. "Imagine, healing someone's sprained ankle in this perfectly ghastly cave!"

"Barbaric," agreed Mr. Howell.

"Oh, I know how we can get out!" Ginger suddenly shouted. "I was in a movie once, and there were these people trapped in a jail like this one. Two people were free: the warden and the one who the warden thought he had killed. Well, the supposed dead guy showed up and tried to pick the lock, and when he couldn't, he pulled on the door and the prisoners pushed! If we try that-"

"-then maybe we can escape!" Professor finished, excited. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Asks the man who suggested splitting up," Mary Ann teased, making the Professor blush.

"That's a great idea, Ginger!" Gilligan exclaimed, placing his hands on the bamboo bars.

The castaways took their positions; Skipper, Professor, and Mr. Howell at the door, Mrs. Howell, Ginger, and Mary Ann around the men.

"One," they began in unison, "two, three!"


"Phooey on Commandant," 222 muttered as he walked back to check on his captives. "He takes avay twelve hours- phooey! Someday I valk up to him, take the laser beam and-"

He was cut off by a very loud, "One, two, three!" He quickly raced into the clearing to find Gilligan, alive but not very well, pulling on the door and the captives trying to push it open.

"Stop!" he cried, running over, ignoring the fact Gilligan was there. "Vhat are you trying to do?"

"Escape," Ginger said simply.

"Well," Skipper began, "looks like we won't escape like the characters in that movie you were in, Ginger."

"Oh, they didn't escape! The warden came back as soon as they started."

Everyone gave her looks of exasperation.

"Vell," 222 began, pulling out his pocket knife, "I vill ask you again; vhat is your mission?"

"We don't have a mission," Professor shouted, "we've told you over and over! What will it take for you to believe us?"

Suddenly, 222 took Gilligan in one arm and put the knife at his throat, though without any real intent on killing him. "You tell me your mission, or Gilligan von't see the light of day again," he threatened, and hoped it actually sounded like a threat and not like he was reading from a script.

Mary Ann let out a deafening scream, momentarily stunning both Gilligan and 222, but making the castaways in the cave wince. Gilligan was the first to recover, using what strength he had to throw off the spy, sending him to the ground. The first mate stood there, unsure of what to do, until Skipper yelled, "Run for it, little buddy!"

Gilligan tried to run, but it was very difficult with his sprained leg. Instead of his usual agility, he ended up jogging out into the jungle.

222 sat in shocked silence for a few moments more before jumping to his feet. He looked to where Gilligan had disappeared into the forest and decided it best to give him a head start. He wasn't in any hurry anyway, just that he only had thirteen hours left. He turned to the castaways, a half smile playing on his face.

"That vas clever plan," 222 commented. "Distract the captor so the captive goes free. If I vas in your place, I vould have done the same thing!"

Everyone looked uneasy at the agent, who shook his head as if to snap himself out of something.

"Why aren't you going after the boy?" Mr. Howell asked. When he received glares from those around him, he added, "Not that I want him to, but his plan is just Yale to me!"

"You are right," 222 cried before anyone else could respond to the millionaire. The familiar, but unwanted, whine of 222's pocket knife sounded, followed by the angry voice of the Commandant.

"Do not listen to dem!" he shouted as 222 unfolded the spoon. "You go and find Gilligan, make dem talk!"

222 frowned. "Da, Commandant, but is that not vhat I have been doing?"

There was a long pause. "No, you have not," the Commandant purred, and the castaways, who were listening, stared intently at the object, as if the man were going to spring out of it any second. Suddenly, he roared, "Go out and find Gilligan, now!"

"Commandant-"

"Now!"

222 sighed. "Da, Commandant," he answered wearily.

"Once you have gotten de information, complete de final phase of your mission," Commandant ordered sinisterly.

"I do not believe that phase vill be necessary," 222 said definitely, regaining his composure.

"You vill do vhat I tell you to do!" Commandant boomed, causing the spy to jump. "Signing off now."

222 breathed a sigh of relief when he could close the shining pocket knife. He looked wearily at the castaways, before racing off down the path that Gilligan had taken, the key falling from his pocket and onto the sandy ground.

"My word," exclaimed Mr. Howell after he had gone, "that Commandant fellow is more bossy than the Skipper!" The Skipper glared at him, but Mr. Howell didn't take the hint.

"He's worse than the producer of the movie To Kill Vampires and Werewolves," Ginger added, "and that's saying a lot!"

"Oh, come now!" Mrs. Howell argued. "He couldn't have been that bad!"

"Hey, that producer was a real wolf!"

"Let's concentrate on getting out of here," the Professor interrupted. "I suggest we..." He trailed off as he spotted the key just a few feet away from the cave. "The key!" he exclaimed, getting on his knees and reaching his arm out through one of the openings.

"Oh," Mary Ann cried, "can you get it, Professor?"

Dejected, Professor sat back up. "Just out of reach," he mumbled.

"Maybe I could reach it," the farm girl volunteered. "That one opening at the bottom is bigger than the others, so maybe I can get halfway through and grab the key!"

"Say, that might work," said Skipper.

"Well, let's try it!" Mr. Howell exclaimed. "This cave doesn't have a single copy of the financial reports!"


Gilligan leaned against one of the great coconut trees on the island, gazing into the jungle. He had made it pretty far, considering the fact he jogged most of the way before limping to his current spot. In one hand he held a makeshift slingshot and in the other a single rock. He was on the alert, jumping at every noise and aiming the slingshot in that direction, until, of course, he saw it was a bird.

There was a rustle in the leaves, and Gilligan aimed his slingshot toward the bamboo plants, though he didn't realize that the plants would repel any projectiles that came their way. "Alright," he began, "I know you're there! Show yourself!" No reply, so Gilligan warily turned away, slingshot ready to fire.

Suddenly, the brush in front of him parted and he saw his double, crouching in the undergrowth with the mirror in his hand. Gilligan immediately pulled back the slingshot to fire. "You let my friends go, or-"

"Or vhat?" asked 222, standing up.

"Uh..." Gilligan trailed off, realizing that he wasn't much of a threat to a spy with an actual weapon. That's when he noticed a gleam in the corner of his eye; a small pool of water.

"Vill you come villingly, or should a stun you?" 222 asked, gripping the handle of his mirror, hoping the boy would give in.

Instead, Gilligan shook his head. Quick as a flash, he aimed the slingshot and fired the rock at the agent. Missing his original target, the rock crashed into the golden mirror, sending shards of glass flying. Sparks showered the ground as 222 stood gaping at the all that was left of the mirror. The top of it broke off, tumbling to the ground.