Odder

This section summarizes Poem 62: “day 32,” Poem 63: “otter dreams,” Poem 64: “the newborn,” and Poem 65: “just a dream.”

Ondine prepared for an oncoming storm with a feeling of unease. She dreamed of Odder and a newborn pup. Odder wasn’t related to the pup yet still seemed important to it; however, in the dream, Odder continually dove away from it to escape its demands. The pup’s helplessness disturbed Odder, and she protested that she couldn’t teach it, while Ondine could only watch. Ondine shook it off, telling herself it was just a dream.

This section summarizes Poem 66: “the wind,” Poem 67: “different,” Poem 68: “rain,” Poem 69: “airborne,” Poem 70: “waiting,” Poem 71: “too close,” Poem 72: “shadows,” Poem 73: “somewhere new,” Poem 74: “where is she,” Poem 75: “puzzle,” and Poem 76: “drowning.”

Ondine prepared to dive for food, fastening Odder securely to a kelp frond as usual. As the storm picked up, the wind whipped the waves into a frenzy, tossing Odder to and fro; surprised at how differently the ocean was behaving from its usual gentle motion, Odder felt almost as if the water was angry with her. The strength of the waves pulled Odder out of the kelp and deposited her on the beach, where everything was abruptly cold, hard, and motionless.

Unfamiliar sounds and smells approached before an unknown, tailless animal picked Odder up. They transported her to a new location, somewhere that wasn’t the ocean. These new animals never left Odder alone; she felt like a puzzle they were determined to solve. They gave her food and a tank of water to swim in, though, and Odder felt grateful. Nonetheless, all she could do was wonder where her mother was; in her dreams, she felt like she was drowning, not ever in the storm-tossed waves but in the eternally echoing question of where her mother could be.

This section summarizes Poem 77: “memories,” Poem 78: “chow time,” Poem 79: “home away from home,” Poem 80: “not otters,” and Poem 81: “scents.”

As Odder adjusted to her new surroundings, memories of her previous life began to fade. She slowly forgot the taste of her mother’s milk as she continued to accept food from the new animals. Odder began to think of her new environment as her second home, and although she could make neither heads nor tails of these strange new creatures (the human aquarists), she sensed, at least, that they were kind and wanted her to live. Although they weren’t otters, they did things just right enough that she could tell they were trying to help her. Odder thought she often detected an otter-like scent but had yet to see any other otters in this mysterious place.

This section summarizes Poem 82: “swimming lessons,” Poem 83: “impossible,” Poem 84: “learning,” Poem 85: “mystery,” and Poem 86: “keystones.”

The humans gave Odder “swimming lessons” in a larger pool. Whenever Odder was in the water, she felt certain that she was right where she belonged. She wondered if she’d one day return to the ocean, though she worried that if she did, life there would be too different; perhaps her mother would have already moved on without her. This was as much a learning experience for the aquarists as it was for Odder; although their plan seemed simple—to teach Odder the necessary survival skills for re-release into the ocean—she had many obstacles to overcome. For the humans, helping the otters as much as possible is important because of their essential role as a keystone species in their ecosystem.

This section summarizes Poem 87: “fun,” Poem 88: “carwash kelp,” Poem 89: “riding the waves,” Poem 90: “changes,” Poem 91: “coincidences,” Poem 92: “how to groom an otter pup,” and Poem 93: “others.”

The humans did their best to keep Odder entertained using things that might be found in an otter’s natural environment, like shells, algae, and rocks. The humans felt the urgency of returning Odder to the ocean as soon as possible; the longer she stayed, the higher the risk that she’d become too attached to humans and thus non-releasable. Odder ate her first solid fish, the taste of which reminded her of the ocean. With the introduction of solid food came a much more involved grooming process; grooming otter pups exactly right is essential because for them, it could be a matter of life and death if their fur isn’t buoyant enough to allow them to float. Although Odder suspected that others like her were there, she didn’t want to get her hopes up only to be disappointed.

This section summarizes Poem 94: “milestone,” Poem 95: “diving,” Poem 96: “the surprise,” Poem 97: “welcome,” Poem 98: “surrounded,” Poem 99: “just a pup,” Poem 100: “listening,” and Poem 101: “escape.”

Odder’s diving lessons began, although she was nervous at first. The humans took her to a larger pool that much more closely resembled the ocean, where Odder was ecstatic to find two other otters present. The otters, Gracie and Holly, told her that the aquarists had placed her in their tank to learn how to deep dive in preparation for life in the ocean. Gracie and Holly also told her that they were permanent residents there; the humans had decided that they wouldn’t fare well back in the wild. According to Gracie, sometimes the aquarists attempted to return them, but they ended up coming back to where they were. They explained that only otters who weren’t releasable got names like the ones they had; for the others, whom the aquarists planned to return to the ocean, they assigned a number to discourage attachment. Beginning to feel overwhelmed by all this new information, Odder was relieved when the humans took her back to her tank; in that moment, she felt almost as if they were long-lost family.

This section summarizes Poem 102: “the next step,” Poem 103: “ready,” Poem 104: “humans,” Poem 105: “warning,” Poem 106: “unanswered,” Poem 107: “tagged,” Poem 108: “outside,” Poem 109: “open,” and Poem 110: “panic.”

Odder continued to practice deep diving in the otter tank until she perfected it. Gracie and Holly told her that soon she’d move on to the next step: the ocean. They explained the reasons that they weren’t suited for the ocean: They were too weak, became too attached to life with the humans, or otherwise couldn’t survive. Odder worried that she’d be returned to the ocean before she was ready. After perfecting her deep diving skills, it was time for Odder to graduate to the ocean. The aquarists placed a tag on her back flipper so that they could monitor her once she was released.

The aquarists took Odder to the ocean, where she eagerly dove in—back to the place she belonged. However, she became overwhelmed by all the sights, sounds, and smells. She panicked, but the human who released her had donned flippers of his own and joined her in the water. He helped her regain her balance underwater; with the guidance of her “otter-teacher,” Odder no longer felt afraid.

This section summarizes Poem 111: “more lessons,” Poem 112: “return,” Poem 113: “Odder’s dream,” Poem 114: “the wild otters,” Poem 115: “the leaving,” and Poem 116: “how to say goodbye to an otter pup.”

Odder had daily ocean lessons and slowly felt at home again. She saw wild otters in the distance but wasn’t brave enough yet to approach them. In the meantime, she explored the ocean floor and perfected her diving moves. She wondered why she and her otter-teacher couldn’t stay there together forever; however, she trusted him, so she allowed him to return her to Highwater each night. While her teacher represented a place of safety for her, the ocean was indifferent to her survival. Odder dreamed of a pup trapped in a tangle of kelp; only she could hear its cries, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t free the pup.

For the first time, Odder felt called to the wild otters as she watched them play. She recognized that they were exactly like her. Realizing this, Odder knew it was time to leave her human caretakers. She was grateful to them for all they’d done for her, and she gave them a fond glance goodbye. The humans watched her go, a bittersweet moment; as happy as they were to see her safely return to the ocean, it was still hard to let go.