Sprig's Journey: The Tale of Noses by Hogan Stevens

The title of this article just so happens to also be the title of a (quite strange) story my best friend and I wrote some time ago. It's one of the weirdest, most stupid stories ever.

You see, whenever she and I have sleepovers we tend to...get rather, uh, crazy. Which is strange, since we are both normally very introverted and quiet. But it seems that as soon as night falls we become the exact opposite of our usual selves, staying up till the wee hours of morning making up stories and giggling like mad.

The story I have mentioned took nearly an hour to come up with, and it was insanely fun to make up. We both took turns narrating the story aloud, starting off where the other would stop, and eventually we finished with a six page tale that involved dragons, monsters, a man named Sprigs, and noses. Lots of noses. I think we may have been slightly under the influence of sugar by then, because at the time we were having a blast thinking of new circumstances to put our hero in...but now that I reread the story, I have to admit that it is sort of embarrassing.

"Once upon a time, there was a prince who lived in a castle. He was a lonely prince, though, because his princess had been stolen away from him by a dragon because he--the dragon, that is--thought that she had the most beautiful nose in the world. The dragon kept the princess because he wanted to use her nose as a model for his nose-shaped castle."

Ah, yes. As I said, my friend Chandler and I can get very creative. And most of the things we come up with after midnight are just plain silly. But that's what sleepovers are supposed to be, right? Silly! You're supposed to be able to enjoy yourselves without worrying about being thought of as weird or having to think about what's going on at school or in your life. At a slumber party, it is just you and your friends having fun and being silly.

Have you ever made up stories like Chandler and me? Trust me, if you have not, you really should try it sometime. It definitely is fun. Just think of an opening line (i.e. "There was once a girl named Lisa who lived by the sea") and then take off from there. With Chandler and me, we always try to make it as silly and unbelievable as possible.

In Sprig's Tale, the story ends up focusing on the princess's lost son, Sprigs, who was so named because of the sprigs of shininess he had in his long, luxorious hair. He goes on an adventure, aided by a kindly Snot Monster, to save his mother from the dragon.

You may just end up with some strange story much like this one, and you will definitely have a lot of fun creating it. Don't worry, though; you don't necessarily have to share the story with anyone besides your friends. I know I'm terribly embarrassed now that I've got the Snot Monster creation out in the open. ;)

Did you know that Hogan loves to sketch and draw?!