In the Mind of a Child

"Let's play a game, Daddy!" the small boy insisted.

"Okay, Jax, what game are we going to play?" his father agreed easily.

The boy's chocolate brown eyes widened as he considered all of the possibilities, all of the fun, and the many adventures each one could bring.His eyes lit up as he made his decision. "Hide 'n' seek, Daddy! Hide 'n' seek!"

"Okay, you go hide, while I count to one hundred," his father instructed. However, Jaxson didn't move.

"Close you eyes!" he insisted, using his little hands to take his Dad's much larger ones from his knees and place them over his eyes, before he ran out of the room.

Jaxson scurried up the carpeted steps to his bedroom. He hopped over a few toys as he made his way to his bed. Dropping down onto his stomach, he attempted to wedge himself under it, but he found the under side of his bed just as bad as the rest of the floor; It had so many toys stuffed under it that he couldn't fit. Under the bed was no longer an option.

Next, he ran down the hall to the bathroom, hoping to hide in the bathtub and found the door closed. He reached up and rattled the doorknob, but to his dismay, it was locked.

Jaxson knew the only other hiding place left upstairs was the closet full of blankets and bed sheets. But he didn't much like the dark, as he was scared of the mosters that lurked in dark places such as the closet, so instead, he skipped the closet and ran back down the stairs.

He tip-toed passed the door to the family room where he had left his father to count, and on the way by, heard numbers much too high for his liking and was forced him to pick up the pace. The nearest hiding place was in the kitchen. It wasn't his favorite hiding place, it was almost as dark as the closet. But he didn't have a choice, there was no where else he could go in time.

He flung open the cabinet door, pushed a few bottles of cleaner to the side and climbed in. Once huddled into a tight enough ball, Jaxson reached out and gripped the door, pulling it closed enough that his Dad wouldn't see him, but open enough that there was still a thin line of yellow light seeping in through the crack.

Just as he finished shifting into a comfortable enough position, his Fther declared that he was finished counting. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" he shouted loud enough to be heard from anywhere in the house.

Jaxson stifled a giggle as he sat in the cabinet waiting to be found. He heard faint footsteps become more prominent as they approached the kitchen, but he didn't move, didn't giggle, didn't even breathe. They got closer and closer, until they were right in front of him. His eyes widened when he saw his Dad's black socked foot through the crack, and he made an even bigger effort not to make a sound.

And then it was gone. The foot moved out of view, and the footsteps retreated. Jaxson let out a whoosh of air and somehow, the small gust of wind caused the door to open a little more. He reached out to close it again, but instead pushed the door open even more. His eyes widened in shock as he tumbled out onto the cool kitchen tile.

He scrambled to get back into the cabinet, but before he had any more than his head inside, he spotted something intriguing - a yellow rectangle. Jaxson gasped as his mind played connect the dots. He freed it from its plastic wrapping and held it up to the light, turning it in every direction to examine it. At last he seemed to come to a very exciting conclusion. Jumping up off the floor, he ran out of the kitchen to find someone to share his discovery with, leaving the cabinet door open and the plastic laying on the floor.

"Daddy, daddy! Look!" he shouted as he ran up the stairs, no longer caring if he was found.

"What is it Jax?" his father asked, as he met his son at the top of the stairs. He scooped Jaxson up into his arms, as if to protect him from some unknown threat.

"Look!" Jaxson exclaimed, clearly oblivious to his father's worry.

A confused smile lit up his face when he saw what his son was holding. "What's this?" he asked, knowing full well what his son's imagination was capable of.

"IS SPUNCE BOB SCARE PANS!" he explained with the type of enthusiasm only a child has.

"You mean SpongeBob SquarePants?" his father clarified.

"Yeah! Spunce Bob Scare Pans!"

"Well, little man, you know who I think would want to meet SpongeBob?"

"Who?" Jaxson asked incredulously.

"I think Mommy would, don't you?"

"Yeah!" he agreed. His father set him down and he immediately took off down the hallway. "Mommy! Mommy!" he shouted as he ran.

His father followed at a slower pace, and reached his bedroom just as Jaxson was showing his mother the sponge. She looked up as he walked in and gave him a questioning look, which he returned with a shrug and an impish grin.

Both Parents watched in awe as their son rattled on about SpongeBob SquarePants, and how they would have to help get him back home. They smiled as they saw the happiness in his eyes. And they were filled with their own happiness as they witnessed their sons ability to create such wonderful things with nothing but a little yellow sponge, and his mind.

And though neither would admit it, they both missed the simplicity of being a child. They missed being able to use their imaginations so fully. But, they especially missed the times when, in their minds, a crayon could be a spaceship, a blanket could be a cape and a sponge could be, well, Spongebob Squarepants.

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Hello, hello! This is a story I wrote for a contest. I specifically had to write a story where a little kid mistook a sponge for SpongeBob SquarePants. Weird, I know.

Hope you liked it, feel free to give me feedback ;)