Our Stories
Check out our narrative features
Seeing with Sound
It’s early in the morning in Brofjorden, a fjord about an hour and a half from the Swedish port city of Gothenburg. Leif Sunesson is four or five years old, fishing down by the water. It’s cold, and it sounds that way: the bobbing of the water is slower, particularly sharp. When the sun gradually moves higher up in the sky, shining over everything, the ecosystem of sound engulfing him changes. Every channel of noise travels quicker, and details become harder to catch—become dimmer, less crisp—when the world warms up.
Against the Grain
Anna Sankar had always wanted a dog. Her heart fluttered as she was greeted by frantic yips and wagging tails at the animal shelter. Among the sea of hopeful faces, one stood out—a nine-year-old husky lab mix whom she named Axel. From that moment on, they were inseparable.
Pass the Pixel
If you’ve ever been in a room with flying cars, you’ll know the air is humid and there are a lot of potato chips. Such a place exists in Windsor, Ontario at St. Clair College. Once a year around mid-March, you can spot groups of twenty-somethings huddled over computer screens, trying to make cars fly.
Say Yes. Figure It Out Later
In 1985, thirty-nine year old Joanne Wilkinson stood in the wings instead of centre stage. As a nurse in the Kootenay mountain town of Kimberley, B.C., she had gotten involved with the local community theatre a few months earlier, creating costumes for her teenage son, Miles.
We Pray in Stairwells
There is an inescapable thrill that comes with sprinting to the closest prayer room during the five-minute break in an hours-long journalism lab, hoping to return before the professor switches to the next slide.
The Spectrum Is Wide
Twenty-five-year-old Irene Chon sits stiffly in a small, private clinic in December of 2021. The room is small, with only a desk separating her and the clinician, who is about to assess her for autism spectrum disorder.
Kitchen Nightmares
It started as a part-time restaurant gig—a way to pay the bills. Five days a week at four p.m., twenty-year-old Yusra Khalil opened the doors to the gilded entrance of Verity, a membership-only women’s club in downtown Toronto.
Wise Words on Personal Style
In the summer of 2023, I found myself sitting at a coffee shop right below my apartment in De Pijp, a trendy neighbourhood in south Amsterdam. I wore silver knee-high boots and a patterned ruffle skirt.
‘The Lights Felt Dimmed inside My Brain’
On August 15, 2013, while playing for Team Alberta against Team British Columbia during the national championships in Vancouver, Justine Cowitz experienced her first rugby-related concussion. “I don’t think I ever returned to normal,” she says.
Don’t Worry, This Will Be Painless
The doors of Guelph General Hospital slid open as Taylor Taylor made her way into the emergency waiting room with her husband, Paul Taylor, just behind her. It was 2011 and the two were in their early twenties.
Between Friends & Faith
I had little clue that my first conversation with William would bring me here. We had messaged but hadn’t spoken face to face in almost a decade. But that closeness we had as kids when you call someone a brother, doesn’t just go away.
HOME
Four generations ago, my grandparents were displaced during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. None of my family has been able to permanently return, and few have even visited. My grandparents fled to Lebanon by foot, where they faced an entirely different form of institutional and social exclusion as Palestinians.
Women in the House That Wasn’t Built for Them
Laura Mae Lindo sits in the Ontario legislature amongst a crowd of older white men. Her presence is a striking contrast. She exudes confidence and her gaze remains steady as she looks around the room.
The Disappearing Heritage of Iraq’s Marshlands
On a spring day in southern Iraq, an archaeologist digs with a trowel. Layers of time become piles of sand-coloured soil. Several thousand years down, the archaeologist hits something solid, something that has been shaped—something made by human hands.
Stan By Me: The Power of BTS Fans
The Scotiabank movie theatre erupted like a concert venue in downtown Toronto. Jaden M looked around and saw glowsticks designed to sync to the beat of the music and fans cheering the names of artists on screen while dancing from the comfort of their seats.
Mass Masala Casualty
Lights dim as a familiar “Hey! Hey! Hey!” drowns my ears. A sound etched into the crevices of my childhood. The bass vibrates through the itchy theatre seats as each letter in the word “Superstar” is spelled out in blue dots on the black screen.
Sick Bingo
Esperança Da Silva sits in the brown leather recliner in a small, crowded two-bedroom condo in Brampton. She massages the Portuguese equivalent of Voltaren into the back of her knee. The piercing smell of medical ointment pervades the room, but it’s comforting and familiar to both of us. At four-foot-ten, the recliner seems to swallow her whole.
The Renaissance of Romance
Melissa Michaels commute on the Richmond Hill GO train began by locking eyes with a total stranger, an instant attraction, flirty banter, quickening pulses, racing heartbeats, and warm bodies fogging the windows. Buttons opened, and tights rolled down. Privacy didn’t matter.
Pill Pushers
On the first day of her period, Morgan Rivers takes a bath, which relieves her pain—a little. She sits in steaming water, letting it scorch her skin. It hurts, but at least it takes the cramping away.
The Hijab Conundrum
As we drove by the area where the volunteers for the procession were setting up, I looked out my window to see a handful of people on the side of the road in jackets, hats, scarves, and gloves, spitting violently at our car.
You Otter Read This!
It may not be national reading month anymore, but here at The Otter, we’re not on anyone’s schedule...
ME/CFS: The Neglected Pandemic
“It absolutely blows my mind—how I could go into a doctor’s office and have someone say my life’s over in a fifteen-minute session, and then be put out into the world with virtually nothing.”
The Varsity Blues
"Hugs are offered, and knowing condolences exchanged. Certitude and clarity have taken their leave; doubt, disbelief, bitterness, and bewilderment permeate in their place."
Shivers Up the Spine
"Flat on the ground, immobile, confined to his own fears, Reno Candido’s world—and the world of those closest to him—changes in an instant."
The Dyspareunia Diaries
"I looked into my gynecologist’s beady eyes and angrily thought to myself, this woman should not be allowed to practice medicine.”
Ballet, Balanchine, and Body Surveillance
"Murphy McDermott stands with her dance team backstage. They are all in matching black outfits, fitted pants, and tank-tops. She and her teammates are crying—getting into character is what they call it.”
You Can’t Spell Sister Without SSRI
"I always knew medication was an option, but I fixated on the fact that I had survived so far without it, deciding this meant I was unworthy.”
Losing My Mother’s Mind
“‘I don’t know where I am, the city looks so different. I just want to go home.’ My mother’s voice is shaky over the phone. Her admission tells me this is more than getting lost in the dark.”
We Are Ontario Hoopers
"Eugene Kanku doesn’t eat before tip-off. He never has. On game day he’s a different person. That’s the day he does what he desires most—play hoops."
TheEmperorsNewClothes.png
"I didn’t expect to find God in the metaverse. I really didn’t expect to find him taking in a fashion show."
The Price of Sugar
"In a small café in downtown Toronto sits a bright-eyed, petite young woman named Veronica. Sitting across from her is Arthur, a man of about 50..."