The knot in my stomach now felt big enough to consume me entirely, and the tears in my eyes stung like a thousand bees. There was no way I could do this.
The Meadow Branching Out of Toronto
The Meadow Branching Out of Toronto is where my heart lies. It’s where my heart cries over the idea of lacking success in life, but it knows well that I will be safe in my meadow if I take good care of it.
My Torontonization
I had been to the observation level so many times during my work hours, but I never got a chance to sit there and observe. This time, I had nowhere to go and nowhere to be.
Sororidad
Ignorance is the only thing that doesn’t have any limits, everything else ends up finding its boundaries sooner or later.
Somehow, You Turn Out Like Me
Somehow, you turn out just like me in a dream. In another time I would’ve thought it a bad dream, awful even, but now it’s just a dream.
The Unbreakable Bond
Sometimes I wish my sister was dead. Perhaps this thought is too macabre. But, given the events that have taken place over the past 48 hours, it’s hard to get it off my mind.
Mr. Lockton's Library
FIRST PRIZE
Desiree was the first to come across Mr. Lockton’s Library. She discovered it on a cloudy morning in April, puddles scattered about from the rainshower that night. The air was damp and she breathed it in deeply as she wandered about the grounds of Hillsay Academy.
Bought & Branded: The Threshold Intertwining My Cultural Identity
SECOND PRIZE
“I call the window seat!” I jolted through the aisles, being a nuisance to neighbouring flight passengers. Everyone settled in after storing their carry-ons, each class compartment filled with indistinguishable chatter, making it even more difficult to hear the pilot over the speaker.
Chelsea
THIRD PRIZE
In the morning, as the sun began to show itself and peek beneath the curtains, I woke up with a blistering headache only a strong cup of coffee could fix. Careful not to wake him just yet, I sat up and observed the bed.
Letter to You
FOURTH PRIZE
There’s a picture I took of you, somewhere, looking up awkwardly from one of the van's back seats. That’s how I know there was confidence, for you to not shy away from me. We are the last generation that grew up without an omnipresence of cameras, but not also without a camera's presence in most moments.
A World for Two
FIFTH PRIZE
One drab November morning, I woke up to an empty world. The sky was a murky stew of grays, and the remains of shattered vehicles littered the otherwise empty streets. From them, billows of smoke rose, which combined with the dense autumn fog to create an eerily dark and still atmosphere, untroubled and untouched by human movement.
Artist Spotlight: Greig Sanders
The featured artist for this edition of HLR Spotlight is Greig Sanders, a student in the Visual & Digital Arts program, which is part of Humber’s Faculty of Media & Creative Arts.
The Unbearable Elephanticity of Being
I've always thought the hardest part of writing is being read. When the story is a personal experience, then it’s even worse. Being read is the pinnacle of exposition, a nightmare for any introvert who writes precisely to avoid verbalizing anything.
NORTH AMERICAN MEDITATIONS
Entertain us. We are the late-night hoards. The chronically tired. The unemployed. Desperate for a quick fix—a date, a dream, a reason, and a meaning. The ones who exist on the edges.
The Explosion
One of my earliest memories is what everyone in our family calls “The Explosion”. My grandmother told the story at every gathering—no Christmas dinner or family reunion passed without a telling…
Form 1
The doorbell rang, and I rushed to let Dr. Algu in before she might knock or ring again. I was trying to keep things hush-hush, but that was silly of me. These things never go down easy.
Waterlogged
“Don’t go chasing waterfalls . . .” Ugh! The year was 1995 and the radio was still playing that TLC song every fucking day! Whatever, it was finally summertime in the Pacific Northwest.
The Painter
The painter had a simple problem: he could not paint. This persisted for months. Each time he raised his brush, his hand would falter and flaccidly drop to his side.
Required to Withdraw
Flicking the lighter on and off, Rajeev walks in and closes the door. He looks around, realizes he is in his roommate Anthony’s room, and walks out.
In the Names of Love
When my Ma was angry at me, she would call me by my full name. Other times though, I was either “tsai,” which means “puppy” in Mandarin, or “bao,” which means “baby.”