HER-CULES: THE TWELVE TRIALS AND THE STORY I TOLD
by jm christiansen
YOUR TOWN, MT – Beck wants to be the world’s next great reporter – if she can just survive her final senior project. When her teacher assigns her to cover the new citywide Herculean Trials, a twelve-event gauntlet designed to celebrate “the complete athlete”, Beck throws herself into sports journalism mode, hoping she’ll find her big break.
She quickly meets Avery, a mysterious, tough-minded competitor who does not want to be anyone’s headline. As this unlikely friendship grows, Beck follows Avery deeper and deeper into the trials, reporting on Avery’s pursuit of victory to a growing audience. Together, the paid must navigate the complicated mythology of school sports and the very real weight of everyone else’s expectations.
A story full of heart, swagger, and mythic spectacle, HER-cules: The Twelve Trials and the Story I Told is about the pursuit of excellence – what it costs and how far we’ll go to be the best.
