One girl writes a letter on behalf of her friends—her, a boy, and another girl whose father is the professor—to ask for help, as the professor has gone missing. The girl says that she and her friends created the country of Pellargonia, as well as the journal article about its history, despite the professor’s name being attached to it. She recalls how the professor, one day, was asked to provide a keynote at a conference in Pellargonia. She and her friends will tell the whole story about how they created Pellargonia and caused the professor to disappear.

Pellargonia starts as Country X, a game that the three friends play among themselves between classes. Taking turns, the three friends create a diverse history of military struggles, revolutions, ascensions to the throne, and so on. The girl recalls how she got to know the boy from a young age as a neighbor, later meeting the other girl—the professor’s daughter—after she moved into town in ninth grade. Country X becomes the way that they reconcile all their different interests as they come up with its founding story.

One day, the professor’s daughter mentions the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology after she sees it on her father’s desk. She asks him what it is, and he says that it’s just nonsense created out of postmodern literary theory, specifically the idea that writing reality creates reality. The next day, the three friends go to the library to read through the journal. Infatuated with the idea, they decide to make Country X into a real country.

The professor’s daughter proposes that the friends write a Wikipedia article about Country X. However, they figure that they need a name for it. After some serious research, they come up with the name Pellargonia, after a flower called pelargonium. On Wikipedia, they write thousands of years of history, make pages for key historical figures, and write countless words about the country’s place in the world. They then go on various social media platforms and upload doctored photographs to depict the country online. Through their school year, they spend their free time making Pellargonia a reality online.

On Thanksgiving break, the friends go to the library in order to read more of the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology so that they can properly write and format their own journal article. Together, they draft an article and eventually send it over to the journal. As a harmless joke, they put the professor’s name on it. They also put his name on Wikipedia. One month later, the professor’s daughter intercepts a piece of mail announcing their acceptance to the journal.

After Christmas break, the friends get more absorbed into their school lives. However, they still try to attend to Pellargonia’s lore once in a while. One day, at lunch, the three friends find out that there’s a flight deal to Pellargonia. They then go online and see that there’s all sorts of transportation options to book to get to Pellargonia, whether plane, train, or ferry. On YouTube, they see channels broadcasting actual news in Pellargonia—the current events which the friends have created. Later, in history class, the three friends ask their teacher about Pellargonia, to which they get a solid, detailed answer of its existence.

By the time school ends, the three friends stop working on Pellargonia, as it’s no longer a game but something that’s taken on a life of its own. Every so often, they text each other about Pellargonia’s current events—revolutions, elections, insurrections, and more. However, their attention is called once again when the professor gets a letter to give a keynote at a Pellargonian conference. Because of current events in the country, the professor and several others end up getting taken hostage by terrorists. The Pellargonian government is unwilling to negotiate with the terrorists, but the United States is trying to get the professor back.

The three friends have created a GoFundMe to send the professor’s daughter and wife to Pellargonia. They only have a few hundred dollars so far. The girl has thus written a letter to the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology in order to spread awareness and raise funds for the professor’s situations, as well as call upon an expert who can accompany the two to Pellargonia.

In an editor’s note, an editor of the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology is convinced that the three friends created Pellargonia, thus supporting the editor’s theory about how countries are created out of imagination and belief. The editor intends to go to Pellargonia with the professor’s daughter and wife. Thankfully, the editor notes, circumstances in Pellargonia have gotten slightly better since the hostage situation began.