Digging and Doodling: This Hammon 9th grader is hunting for treasure by doing both

HAMMON, Okla. (KFOR) -- The map of rural, western Oklahoma from above reveals a series of lines and dots, a pretty picture that runs right over the horizon.

William Long likes pictures well enough, but he's always been much more interested in what lies under the ground.

"There's a bunch of old homesteads out here," he tells us while prospecting. "I find toys, coins, and a lot of old horse equipment."

So we dig into the recent past, the top layers really, to a school art assignment he received right before summer break.

"Probably about a month before school let out," he recalls.

"Doodle something. Was that it," queries his guest?

"Yep. Doodle for Google."

William entered something called The Doodle for Google contest.

The internet search company sponsors a competition every year for school age kids.

This year's theme, draw something that makes you calm, or gives you peace.

William's thoughts went straight to his treasure hunts.

"About how metal detecting and exploring is really how I like to cool down after getting mad or just to go out and calm down."

Look around his room outside Hammon, and it's easy to identify his interest in fossils and old treasures.

His mom Emma Williams agrees.

No fossil bed or old homestead is safe from his digging.

She says, "He wanted to be a paleontologist when he was younger."

William's doodle, which proved a national finalist, and the only one from Oklahoma, features a bowl shaped cross-section of a prime treasure spot with all kinds of artifacts awaiting discovery.

The drawing even includes an extraterrestrial find that he's sure would make him famous.

"I drew a UFO because you never know what you're going to find."

Colored pencils only mark the surface on a piece of paper, adding thin layers of color until an image reveals itself.

William Long's doodle goes a little deeper and, if he's lucky, it might net him the kind of treasure he never would have expected, riches from above for what lies beneath.

Voting for the Doodle for Google contest closes on July 17th.

To see other entries or learn more about the competition, click here.