Bogey Dragon

Janruary 2, 2025

Dear Luca,

You were 2 and a bit; I was putting you to bed and telling you the three bears story. It was dark, pitch black, and every now and again you would hand me little bits of hard things saying “Here you go papa!“. I wasn’t sure what they were; it was dark. Maybe it was some dried food? I made a mental note to bathe you harder next time. After the third time, I realized you were picking your nose and handing me dried bogies! I confronted you and asked if they were indeed, bogies. You laughed and then said “Here you go papa!” while handing me a fourth. That night we came up with the bogey dragon story, it’s now your favorite (and mine) I hope you don’t mind that I share it with others.

Far, far away, there was a big, fiery dragon. This dragon loved to eat yummy humans. He would land on a tall, tasty-looking castle, take a deep breath, and blow hot fire into the windows, and cook everyone inside. Then, with one big swoop of his long tongue—SLURP!—he gobbled them up.

But one day, something went wrong. The dragon landed on the yummiest castle he’d ever seen. He took a big breath to blow his fire, but… pffffft. No fire came out! He tried again. And again. But nothing happened.

“Oh no!” the dragon cried. “I have a bogey stuck in my nose! I can’t make fire, and if I can’t make fire, I can’t eat!” The dragon flew to a forest nearby, sat on a tree stump, and started to cry.

Now, not far from the forest lived a little boy named Luca.

Luca was kind and brave, even though his family was very poor. He lived with his mama and papa, brother and sister and small mama (auntie!). His parents owed a lot of money to the people who lived in the castle nearby so they often went hungry. They all lived together in one tiny house, and everyone slept in the same bedroom but they loved each other very much.

One day, while playing by the forest, Luca heard the dragon crying. Luca is a brave boy so he tiptoed closer and asked, “Why are you so sad?”

The dragon cried, “I have a bogey stuck in my nose, and I can’t get it out because I have no arms. If I can’t blow fire, I’ll go hungry! Will you help me?”

Luca felt a little scared, but he was also very kind and he could see the dragon was upset so he decided to help. “Okay,” he said, “I’ll try!”

The dragon bent his huge head low. Luca grabbed a long stick and reached up into the dragon’s big, sniffly nose. He carefully wiggled the stick this way and that, trying to get the bogey free. But, he accidentally touched the inside of the dragons nose and—ACHOO!—the dragon sneezed! Luca flew backward and landed on his bum with a thump.

But Luca doesn’t give up when if fails! He stood up, rolled up his sleeves, and said, “Let me try again.” This time, he used his hand. He reached up, up, UP into the dragon’s nose until he found the slimy bogey. Carefully, he wriggled the bogey until he got it free. Then he very slowly tried to pull it out. But again, he touched the inside of the dragons nose and—ACHOO!—the dragon sneezed! Luca flew backward and landed on his bum… but he held onto the bogey!

The dragon sniffed once, twice, then ROARED with happiness. He flew high into the sky and blew the biggest fireball anyone had ever seen. “Thank you, little boy!” he said, flying toward the nearby castle for his dinner.

Luca tried to wave goodbye, but something felt heavy in his hand. He looked down and gasped. The bogey wasn’t green and slimy—it was a large lump of gold! Because you see, Dragon bogies are made of solid gold.

Luca could not believe his luck, he hid the gold in a fold of his coat and ran all the way home to show his mama and papa. They were so excited! They used the golden bogey to pay all their debts and used the rest to buy a bigger house, one where everyone had their own bedroom. They had enough money to eat well every day and they lived happily ever after.

The End.