I moan and slump on my desk, tapping my pencil continuously on the piece of paper. My lamp shines brightly, caressing me in a gentle orange glow. I sigh. I’ve been selected for the Survival Games, where a helicopter basically drops you somewhere in the wild with a few other people with ten items of your choice. Then you have to survive for a week. Basically we keep doing this for weeks, or until all but one person has dropped out. If you lose, or crack, you press an emergancy button and they come get you in a helicopter, and you win nothing. If you eventually win, you get a million bucks, an awesome survival kit, and a free pass to the next survival games. This time, I’m being dropped on a desert island in the Bahamas.

If I make it through this, I will not redeem my pass.

But enough! I tap my pencil harder. I need ten items to bring!! Hmmm… i look at my pencil.

_1: Pen,_

I write down, and think some more. I need something to write on…but I can always write on a stone. I’ll come back to that later.

I consider more. I’ll need food…

_2: Box of crackers._

I consider this for a minute. Crackers… It’s gonna be salty. And, I’ve heard that people can’t survive without water.

But the ocean is salty. I can’t drink it.

_3: water filter,_

I write after some deliberation.

I keep at it, writing and erasing. An hour later, I’ve come up with this:

_1: Pen_

_2: Box of crackers_

_3: Water filter_

_4: Rope,_

_5: Tent_

_6: Sleeping bag_

_7: Book_

_8: Notebook_

_9: String_

_10: Chocolate bar_

Yeah, I know. Am I nuts? But a box of crackers and some wild coconuts won’t sustain me for a week.

Hmm. I should have added a fishing line. I contemplate. Should I switch item ten around?

Nah. I really want that chocolate.