THE FRIENDLY PHYSICIAN

"Skipper, you said you could sail…" Gilligan said as he watched their newest hope of rescue sink.

"Like I told you Gilligan, no one likes a wise guy," the Skipper answered angrily. That was the last thing he said to the younger male. Gilligan tried to make him talk, but all he got was seeing his buddy's fist sink into a tree.

"Skipper, it's not the first time…"

"We failed, Gilligan, is that what you were going to say?" Skipper turned on him in fury, and Gilligan shook his head.

"We… We don't blame you Skipper. We'll get off this island, won't we?" Gilligan said and the Skipper sighed.

"Yeah, sure," he responded.

The other five castaways had similar reactions. Gilligan was right though, no one voiced anything indicating that they reasoned it to be the captain's fault, but Gilligan knew though it bothered all of them. The seven sat together at their table in silence. It was after twenty minutes of awkward silence that Gilligan suddenly had a thought and burst into laughter.

"Our misery amuses you, Gilligan?" the Professor asked first, as all six heads looked at him.

"No… Professor…"Gilligan said, but he couldn't speak further. Every time he looked at the smart man he giggled harder. He finally calmed down and took a breath -- a silly grin still plastered to his face.

"I'm sorry, I was just thinking, if we had escaped and not put our minds back into our bodies back, where they belonged, what Professor would look like in Mary Ann's dresses," he explained before throwing himself on the sand, doubling over in laughter.

That seemed to cheer everyone, and even the Professor laughed at the thought.

"That would be crazy! Can you imagine our lives being each other?" Mary Ann voiced.

Mrs. Howell gasped. "Think of all the mess on my dresses," she said, and everyone laughed more as they looked at Skipper, who had been Mrs. Howell.

Then Mr. Howell looked sick. He got up and tripped over his feet.

"I say, Skipper, help me; I'm such a klutz!" Gilligan giggled and joined in the act.

"I say old chap, you can't have that hand in poker! I am the only one who can win!" he said, and in mock anger, he threw down some leaves, pretending they were money.

"Least you guys were each other! I didn't know how to make tall, dark and ugly remotely cute!" Ginger said.

"You think that's bad, Ginger - you should have seen his body walking around like you," the Skipper added, and all four men pranced around like her which made her smile.

"That was pretty funny," Mary Ann agreed, and she got up and kissed Gilligan's cheek. "For a man who messes up a lot, you sure know how to cheer someone up," she said, and Gilligan smiled, too.

"Thanks, little buddy. Come on folks, I say we pack a picnic and forget chores, and just enjoy each other's company," the Skipper announced, and then grinned. "In our own bodies, I mean," he teased, which started everyone laughing again, and everyone was still wearing their smiles as they assembled stuff for their picnic. Gilligan volunteered to collect fruit and coconuts, and expertly climbed a tree:

Dear Diary,

I became a howell agan, literlly. This crazey guy cam and swished all our budys around and I ended up in mr howell budy. Skipper and mrs howell got swiched and Mary Ann was in the prafesseers budy. I thenk he wuld look funnily in a dress, diary. Ginger got putted in igors budy but then we all got put in our own budy agane. Still stuck here tho. but I luv it here, everyone laffing made me happy.

Gilligan