Not Robinson Crusoe

Jackson squirmed around in his sleeping bag, trying to get comfortable. He had been awake for two hours, and by now all the other boys had gone to sleep. Unfortunately, Eric's snoring right by Jackson's ear sounded like a chainsaw. Finally Jackson stood up and got out of the crowded boy's tent. He just couldn't get to sleep.

It was a beautiful night. The waves hit the beach lazily, then fell back into the ocean again, just to come back up and fall back down, over and over. It was a full moon, and quite bright outside. Overall everything was very peaceful and beautiful looking.

'I wonder if Robinson Crusoe ever got to see a night as beautiful as this,' Jackson thought to himself. When he was younger he had wanted to be exactly like Robinson Crusoe. He figured he was the closest to that now than he would ever get. 'It's just like Robinson Crusoe, really,' he thought, a small smile on his face. But the smile disappeared at the sound of Eric's snoring coming from the tent.

'Ok, so it's not like Robinson Crusoe.'

Jackson walked over to the fire pit and plopped down in the sand. He grabbed a stick and stirred up the hot coals, adding a couple pieces of wood to keep the fire going.

'Robinson Crusoe didn't have to try to lead a bunch of spoiled rich kids,' Jackson thought as he stared into the coals. 'He was all alone, with nobody else there. No fighting, no complaints. Just him. No one else.'

Jackson imagined it being just him on the island, with no one else. Suddenly he frowned. With surprise he realized that if it was just him, just Jackson, he probably wouldn't still be alive. Everyone had been helpful in their own way.

The teen looked out over the water. That's all there was: water. For miles and miles, it gleamed silver in the light of the moon, all the way until it seemed to touch the sky on the horizon. Would they ever get off this island? How long would they be here? How long would they be able to live here? What if...

Jackson pushed the thought out of his mind. Yeah, they needed to worry about it, but they couldn't let it get hold of them. Couldn't give in to despair. They had to keep hoping. But, did he really want to get off the island? Things were a wreck at home. But he couldn't just stay here forever.

He thought about the things they had accomplished. Yeah, they were doing good. It kinda seemed like Daley and Nathan were at least getting along better. He still couldn't figure out why they'd elected him leader, though. It was hard to be the one they all turned to when things went wrong. And he had to admit, he had panicked when Eric started freaking out from the shellfish. It was good Melissa was there, or Eric might not of made it. But then, if it weren't for the mysterious "friend" they wouldn't have known what to do. And it turned out the friend was Taylor. Taylor of all people!

It was then, sitting in the moonlight, with the fire reflecting in his eyes, Jackson realized that without every single person in the group of seven it would be surprising if any of them were alive. This wasn't Robinson Crusoe, it was real life, with seven people involved.

They were one group. It was really like they were one body, each of them different parts, and without one of those parts the whole body would mess up. They were a family, they just hadn't really realized it yet. It was then that Jackson decided, he was going to do what he could to keep this group of kids together, and he wasn't going to give up on getting them off this island. He just hoped that when they all got back they wouldn't completely forget about him. He was pretty sure they would, but he hoped not. He had never really had much of a family, and as much as these guys got on his nerves sometimes, it was nice having them.

No, it wasn't Robinson Crusoe, but Jackson was thankful that is wasn't.

A/N- Silly me, I'm uploading all these stories that I wrote a while back before I got this account and I'm uploading them in the wrong order. :P This one should have been first, but oh well I hope you like it anyways. :)