Chapter 1: "Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It's Not)"

A quest is made up of five aspects: 1) a quester, 2) a place to go, 3) a stated reason to go there, 4) challenges and trials en route, and 5) a real reason to go there. A fine example of a quest takes place in a wonderful book, Paper Towns by John Green. Our quester is a seventeen year-old young lad named Quentin Jacobsen, Q for short. He is a trite fellow and likes his life without excitement, but delves into a new life of being adventurous after a magical evening with his neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman. After their wonderful evening, Margo goes missing, and Q gets the sense that he is the one that she wants to be found by. After following several confusing clues set by Margo, he discovers an address which makes his place to go a frightening, abandoned strip mall a few miles outside of his town. His assumes the stated reason to go there is to save Margo, make sure she is still alive, and bring her with him back home. He faces several challenges and trials during his endeavors. Not only does he have to enter the terrifying strip mall that reeks of death, having no idea what lurks behind the bolted doors and boarded up windows, but he also has to make some changes to his life's routine that he has become accustomed to. He has to start lying to his parents, an act he has not had to do until this point, as well as skip some school of which he has not missed a single day his whole four years of high school, up until this occurrence. He also has struggles with his two best friends, law enforcement, and Margo's parents. Finally, Q realizes his real reason to go there is to discover whether Margo really chose him as the one who is meant to find her. He also wants to uncover whether or not she is in love with him as deeply as he is with her. One can only hope Quentin's quest ends in happiness.