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Through The Eyes Of A Child

THEODORE R. POKORNY) JR.

To A CHILD) the unknown-the uncertainty-of an object or thing
can prove most fascinating, because through his imagination
and wishful thinking these unknown things can become real. A child
finds these things to hold wonder; yet, to us, they would seem unim-
portant and unnecessary. A child can imagine that the moon is a
fiying saucer from outer space or that a shooting star is a mighty
missile. Even I, sometimes, like a child, will gaze at the clouds in the
sky and picture the fascinating shapes of a fish, a face, or an angel.

It is possible to find these times of serenity and wonder through
the eyes of a child as he plays with his toys or in the imaginative
world outside of home. Spending a day at the beach can be a most re-
laxing and enjoyable pastime, but to watch a child spend a day at
the seashore is a unique adventure in itself.

As he first comes running down onto the beach, he literally ex-
plodes with excitment. His first and only wish is to play in the sand,
to build castles and watch the waves roll in and wash them away,
to rebuild them again and again watch them be swallowed by the
foaming sea. Soon he tires of this, and his next impulse is to frolic
in the surf. He delights in running through the water, feeling its
coolness over his skin, tasting its saltines and wondering at the con-
stant glistening of the ripples-the way they seem to be moving,
fighting, "living."

At the water's edge he spies a piece of driftwood, a smooth stone,
a shell, and now these three lifeless objects hold his only interest. But
of these three, the shell attracts him most. He rushes to the edge of
the pounding surf and plucks it from the water's grasp. As he picks
up the shell, many questions run through his mind: "What is it?
Where did it come from? How did it get here? Who made it?"

Holding the shell in his hand, his countenance brightens as he
begins to explore more deeply the wonders that it may hold. His mind
fills with ideas as he imagines it to be a spiral staircase from the sand
castle washed away by the waves, or, perhaps) the most beautiful gem
he has ever seen, or a miniature house in which the little people of
the sea may live.

Again his interests change to other things as his day of imagina-
tion draws to a close. The little child grows weary as he leaves behind
his wonderful world of dreams and fantasies. But that little shell he

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