Cover Photo: Photograph of a young child with long blonde hair, wearing a frilled tanktop and smiling as she looks down at the ground. Behind her is a grove of trees.
Photograph courtesy of the author

We’re in Sasquatch Country Now

How the Bigfoot legend helped me reconcile unanswered questions about my adoption

My dad got up early on Saturdays, pressing my feet into tiny rain boots, throwing wool mittens and Ziploc bags of peanuts into his knapsack. Across the street, the woods were calling. Into the forest we’d slip, leaving behind the ranchers on our cul-de-sac, rusted kids’ bikes lying on the wet pavement. On Vancouver Island it’s always either raining or has just finished.

I desperately wanted Bigfoot to be real, despite the tinge of fear I felt every time we walked in the woods.

Why are you placing this child for adoption? Too young to provide her the lifestyle she deserves

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doesn’t

Lana Hall  is a  writer based in Toronto, Canada whose work often examines the intersection of equity, labour and the politics of urban life. Her journalism and essays have been published in the Globe and Mail, CatapultSpacing Magazine, Parhelion Literary Magazine and elsewhere. She is an MFA candidate in creative nonfiction at the University of King's College.