The Help Desk: Freshling Year
Fiction SubmissionsCarrie Gross, Crystal Bartlett, Grace M. Alden, L.F.S. Alden
Series: The Help Desk
Genre: Poorly lit academia at a small liberal arts college in New England.
Bizarre things happen at college, and Saint Helen College in northern New England is no exception. The Magic quietly pervades a mostly unsuspecting campus in ways that are either funny — or deadly. A squirrel might simply turn green, but the people who observe it usually develop gaps and lies in their memories. Some who witness magic simply Vanish, creating even larger holes in the consensus reality.
A very few undergraduate students can observe the magic and retain their memories — the Supervisors at The Help Desk where they bring their limited life experience to the problem of protecting their campus. No knowledge has been passed down from before The Incident in 2018, when a huge reunion of Help Desk alumni collectively Vanished. This tight group of friends must re-learn everything about the magic from the ground up and they must do it without exposing anyone else to danger. They face cryptids like the ancient local terror who leaves behind desiccated corpses and strange artifacts like The Pen that writes things which come true.
To help their fellow Hedgehogs survive, the Deskers are forced into the closet to do good and puzzle out the Magic, all while growing up, deciding on grad school, grieving the Vanished, and passing exams. Will they face the unknown with fear or curiosity?
Fall term at Saint Helen College is about to begin. And at the Help Desk, they’ll help you. With anything.
Genre: Poorly lit academia at a small liberal arts college in New England.
Bizarre things happen at college, and Saint Helen College in northern New England is no exception. The Magic quietly pervades a mostly unsuspecting campus in ways that are either funny — or deadly. A squirrel might simply turn green, but the people who observe it usually develop gaps and lies in their memories. Some who witness magic simply Vanish, creating even larger holes in the consensus reality.
A very few undergraduate students can observe the magic and retain their memories — the Supervisors at The Help Desk where they bring their limited life experience to the problem of protecting their campus. No knowledge has been passed down from before The Incident in 2018, when a huge reunion of Help Desk alumni collectively Vanished. This tight group of friends must re-learn everything about the magic from the ground up and they must do it without exposing anyone else to danger. They face cryptids like the ancient local terror who leaves behind desiccated corpses and strange artifacts like The Pen that writes things which come true.
To help their fellow Hedgehogs survive, the Deskers are forced into the closet to do good and puzzle out the Magic, all while growing up, deciding on grad school, grieving the Vanished, and passing exams. Will they face the unknown with fear or curiosity?
Fall term at Saint Helen College is about to begin. And at the Help Desk, they’ll help you. With anything.
created 3 months ago
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