Story and photos by Prin Roussin
ISSUE 3.2 (2007)
Many years ago, in a land not all that different from our own, a great hardship had plagued the world and all the creatures living in it. Among them, there lived a unicorn and a crow who had become the best of friends.
Like many who lived through such times, they worked in what some have called the oldest profession, working day and night down by the old train yard, they kept careful watch to make sure the other was always safe and protected.
One day, while the crow was keeping watch, something caught her attention: a shiny flash out of the corner of her eye. She flew away to find what had distracted her, forgetting all about her dear friend, if only for a moment.
When the crow realized that she had left her friend working alone, she quickly returned. She searched high and low around the old train yard, cawing loudly, but alas, the unicorn was nowhere to be found.
The unicorn was never seen or heard from again. She was thought by most to be gone, but the crow never stopped searching for her friend. It is said that she still waits in the old train yard for any sign of her dear friend, and there she will wait until the end of time.
Editors’ Note: This is a fairy tale about the sex workers of East Vancouver, Canada. In 2002, Robert Pickton was charged with the murders of twenty-seven women, most of whom were sex workers, street-involved, and/or First Nations. Pickton likely killed many more of the sixty-two people on the list called “Vancouver’s Missing Women.” In the shadow of the Pickton trial, we are reminded about how fragile our lives are and how vulnerable we all are, especially if we are isolated and criminalized. “The Unicorn and the Crow” is a reminder to us all to make sure our sister and our brother are protected, because if we do not protect each other and ourselves, no one will.
PRIN ROUSSIN is a sex worker and artist working in the Coast Salish Territories of Vancouver, Canada.
