What’s in Freddy’s Pocket?
Freddy is seven years old. He has big pockets because he has need of them. Wherever he goes, he is finding treasure. He’s always on the lookout for treasure and so he sees what most people miss. At the end of the day, he goes to his room and empties his pockets, making inventory of the booty for the day.
He likes to think of it as booty, a word he learned when his dad was reading to him. Freddy regards himself as a clever and observant pirate, looking for discarded booty. He even says the word out loud when he sees something to pick up because he likes the sound of it. “Booty!” “Booty!”
But when he goes to his room to empty his pockets, he turns into a dragon, fiercely guarding his hoard. He has little boxes that he sorts things into. He came upon these excellent little boxes in his mom’s craft room, a treasure trove all in itself – but most of it was treasure he couldn’t take. She had set aside these boxes to give away. She was always saying she had too much stuff. Too much! But when he had asked her if he could keep them, she smiled and said “Of course – a pirate needs boxes, doesn’t he?” She knows all about Freddy the Finder, Freddy the Pirate, and Freddy the Dragon.
Today is an extra special day for Freddy, a day like no other in the world of Freddy the Finder. Before lunchtime, he has already been outside in the yard and found:
- A marble
- A longish piece of black and white twine
- A stick with sharp thorns on it. He tried to put that in one of his pockets and decided it wasn’t meant to be “inside treasure,” just “outside treasure.” These are terms his mom and dad taught him when he put a nice worm in his pockets.
- A spoon somewhat flattened by a car (which made it even better)
- A couple feathers. He has a special box just for feathers.
After supper, though, is when the special thing happens. During a family walk at the nature center, he pokes along behind everyone – you can’t go very fast when you’re being a clever and observant pirate. He sees movement under some fallen leaves and squats down, waiting to see what it is. There! He grabs it and marvels at the colorful thing in his grubby hands. Orange and blue with soft spikes and a glaring yellow eye! He carefully places it in his only empty pocket and runs to catch up with everyone.
“Hey! I need to know if this is inside treasure or outside treasure!” Freddy the Pirate hopes that Freddy the Dragon will be adding a Live Thing to his precious hoard.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I wrote this because in spite of its painted flaws, I was really drawn to this lizard, which in real life is probably too big to fit into Freddy’s pockets. I’d love to have the skills to illustrate the whole story. It’s semi-autobiographical because as a child I was always finding and hoarding little treasures in my room. No worms, though – yuck.
Be like Freddy – spend more time looking for treasure.
I’ll probably delete this in the morning, or I might put it into a treasure box.
Lynniebeemuseoday 