Valentine's Day on the Island

[mrs.gingerhinkley]

Disclaimer: I don't own the castaways... please read, review, and enjoy!


Valentine’s Day on the Island
“Good morning sleepy head,” an all smiles MaryAnn said briskly as Ginger crawled out of bed somewhat reluctantly. “Sleep well?”
“Yeah,” she replied, trying to recapture the memory of the dream she had just woken up from which involved the Professor finally coming to his senses.
“Oh, that’s nice,” MaryAnn said in an almost singsong voice as she arranged and rearranged a bouquet of wild flowers in a vase.
“Flowers? From whom?” Ginger asked with a grin, already knowing the answer.
“Gilligan,” MaryAnn sighed happily.
Ginger laughed as MaryAnn floated out of the hut humming blissfully; those two were such a cute couple.
With that thought, she was hit with realization. It was Valentine’s Day. As she hurried to change she mentally slapped herself for forgetting. Well, it’s not as if it mattered too much, seeing how oblivious the Professor was to her constant and sometimes quite obvious hinting that she liked him. But still, Valentine’s Day in itself was something special no matter what. Ginger was halfway out the hut door when she had a second thought. She hurried to check her appearance once more, figuring she might convince the Professor yet.
Breakfast that morning was a cheerful and talkative event. Everyone was in good spirits and although the subject of Valentines was never brought up, love was clearly in the air. Afterwards, the Howells went on a walk together, the Skipper went fishing, and MaryAnn and Gilligan went off to chase butterflies, leaving Ginger and the Professor to do the dishes together.
Arms linked, MaryAnn and Gilligan walked through the jungle, pointing out certain butterflies that crossed their path, but not really paying much attention to anything but each other.
“Thanks for the flowers Gilligan, they were lovely,” MaryAnn said sweetly, giving Gilligan’s hand a quick squeeze.
“Oh, gee, I’m glad you liked them,” he replied sheepishly, “but they aren’t nearly as lovely as you.”
MaryAnn giggled, “I’m glad I’m your valentine.”
“Me too…” Gilligan said softly, staring into MaryAnn’s beautiful brown eyes. He brushed a strand of hair that had escaped a pigtail away from her face and leaned into towards her face ever so gradually. As their lips connected, they were lost to the world around them; cupid didn’t even get a chance.
Meanwhile, romance was a nonexistent between an ever persistent and a completely clueless Professor. As she dried a dish that he handed her, it was all Ginger could do to keep from laughing out loud at how pathetic they both were; she for the fact that she was still trying and well the Professor… he was supposed to be smart.
Later that day, just before lunch, the Skipper came back from fishing. “A beautiful flower for a beautiful girl,” the Skipper said, handing Ginger a lily.
“Thanks Skipper,” Ginger replied, giving the Skipper a hug in return.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, he laughed, and left with a wink.
Lunch, in contrast to breakfast, was highly interesting and eventful. MaryAnn and Gilligan couldn’t seem to keep their eyes off of each other and Mr. and Mrs. Howell weren’t having much more luck.
“Mrs. Howell, would you please pass the guava jelly?” the Skipper asked for the third time, the annoyance finally starting to be apparent in his voice.
“Oh yes, I’m terribly sorry. Here you go Skipper,” Mrs. Howell replied. “But you know, it is Valentine’s Day. And certainly there’s something excusable in saying that.”
“Well, personally, I don’t agree with all the commotion that is centered on this so-called holiday,” the Professor noted to the side.
“And what is that supposed to mean exactly?” Ginger inquired, an eyebrow raised.
“I just don’t think that we should set aside a whole day to celebrate something as trivial as love when we could be celebrating far more important subject matters,” he responded calmly.
“Something as trivial as love? Is that how you feel about it?” she demanded in disbelief.
“Why certainly. I mean, what’s the point of parading around a romance with chocolates, sappy cards, and flowers that eventually die and wither up just like the relationship eventually will.”
“If that isn’t the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard! There’s such a thing as true love!”
The Professor looked as if he had to think about this comment before responding, “Perhaps… but still, that’s no reason I have to hear about it.”
“You know, just because you don’t understand something for once in your life doesn’t mean you have to be such an insensitive brute!” Ginger retorted, now fuming. When the Professor didn’t continue the argument, she got up and stormed away into the jungle.
An amused look played across the Professor’s face to the incredulity of the others. “If you’ll excuse me,” he said, leaving the table and heading back to his hut.
Later that afternoon, nearing dinnertime, MaryAnn walked into her hut to find Ginger lying on her bed looking up at the ceiling.
“Hey, you okay?” she asked in concern.
“Yeah… I’ll be fine. He just makes me so mad sometimes…” Ginger sighed. Noticing that MaryAnn had changed and was fixing her hair and makeup she added, “You and Gilligan have fun tonight.”
“Thanks. We’re having dinner down at the lagoon and I think the Howells are having some romantic dinner at their hut… so I guess it’ll just be you, Skipper, and uh, the Professor. Sorry. See ya later!” MaryAnn said, practically skipping out of the hut.
Ginger continued to stare at the ceiling. This whole thing would be a lot easier to get over if she didn’t like the Professor; which she reminded herself was in itself extremely stupid. After brooding some more, she hurried out early to get a quick bite to eat, not really feeling like eating, but figuring she might as well avoid anymore unwanted confrontations.
Upon returning to her hut Ginger walked over to her nightstand and picked up “Romeo and Juliet”; she’d might as well read. Then she laughed out loud at herself; she of all people was spending the evening of Valentine’s Day reading. As she sat down on the bed, she almost didn’t notice what was lying on top of her pillow.
It was a single, deep red rose; she hadn’t even known there were any roses on the island. Attached was a note. “Ginger, will you be my valentine? If so, please meet me at 7:30 down at the beach near the large rock. I’ll be waiting, Your Secret Admirer.” Ginger smiled in spite of herself; the Skipper could be too much sometimes. But still, there was nothing else for her to do. Checking the time she found she had about 45 minutes to get ready and proceeded to do so.
When she finished, Ginger headed out the door to meet her ‘secret’ admirer. As she reached the specified place of meeting, she glanced around but couldn’t see anyone. “Hello… is anyone here? I’m ready to meet my secret admirer,” Ginger called out.
“Turn around,” a voice said behind her, causing her to jump.
“Oh Professor you could have given me a heart attack! Besides, what are you doing here?”
“I believe you did ask to meet your secret admirer,” he replied with a smile.
“You?!”
“Yes… you’re surprised?”
“Well, I just thought that, well um…”
“My dear, you are blushing,” the Professor noted, taking Ginger’s hand.
“Well then what was that at lunch?” she demanded, pulling her hand away quickly.
“Merely a clever ruse. You see, I wanted this to be a genuine surprise; and the look on your face just now was well worth the argument.”
“You didn’t mean a word of it?” Ginger questioned suspiciously.
“Of course not. I’m not quite the insensitive brute you think I am,” the Professor laughed, knowing he had struck a nerve.
“If you want me to leave…” she threatened.
“Do you want to leave?” he asked in complete honesty.
Their eyes were locked suddenly on each other as they memorized every detail of the other’s face.
“No,” Ginger whispered, afraid to break the spell.
The Professor smiled, extending his arm which this time Ginger took readily.
They walked down the beach for a time reveling in the fact that they were actually together. Finally the Professor seemed satisfied and sat down on the sand, directing Ginger to do likewise.
“From this point on the island, we’ll have the best vantage point of the sunset… which,” he said checking his watch, “should be happening in approximately fifteen minutes.”
Ginger laughed at the sheer absurdity of this comment. They sat in silence for awhile, absorbing the scene. The Professor started tracing half of a heart around them and Ginger, catching on did likewise. When their fingers came to meet at the point of the heart, they looked up at each other and grinned.
The Professor ran his hand down her jaw bone and Ginger leaned forward ever so slightly. As their lips connected, the sun fell behind the vast ocean water and the sky was filled with various shades of gold, purple, pink, and blue all of them which blended into one beautiful color providing a perfect atmosphere of romance and whimsy.
They separated slowly and fell back onto the sand, watching the stars fill the night sky. As a cool breeze blew through the air, Ginger shivered slightly at which the Professor put his arm around her and pulled her closer.
Leaning her head on his shoulder to smile up at him, Ginger sighed, “Happy Valentine’s Day Professor.”
The Professor smiled back, and kissing her head gently replied, “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

[jonnycarnahan]

Awww, how sweet! Thank you. For a minute there, I wanted to smack our resident loveable egghead upside the head. Very nice and a pleasant way to end a very pleasant day.

[AB]

Very sweet!

[lm]

Congratulations!! Again, I only had time to skim (I promise, I will read every word when I get to it) some parts but you did a great job. Around Valentine's Day, I was thinking of asking if someone would write a VDay fanfiction, actually! You have silent scenes for the other two couples that work great. What's great about your story is that it not only includes what we would expect from the characters but things that are nevertheless believable but unexpected (such as the Howells' being engaged in looking at each other during the breakfast scene). In this way, it delivers exactly what fanfiction wants--what we know and what is new. I could definitely see the Professor delivering the one rose like that; it was so "him." Keep up the great work!!!! Write some more!

[mrs.gingerhinkley]

Thank you for all of the comments/reviews guys! They really brightened my day.

Johnny~ yeah, I had fun with that scene.

Im~ glad I kept them in character; always a relief to hear that! I was worried about how sappy it'd be but then I figured; hey, it's Valentine's Day. Thanks for noting the 'silent scenes' I didn't want to exclude or anything but at the same time I wanted to keep the story concise.


Thanks again.

[nettybo]

Haha, how cute.