The Queen of Queens Park

    In a time that was much like the time we are in now but not quite, there lived a little boy and girl. They were brother and sister and while they got along most of the time, they didn't see eye to eye every minute of the day. Their names were Delilah and Kieran.

They lived in a big blue house on the corner of their street. They had a husky dog, a tabby cat and 4 guppy fish they helped their Mom and Dad take care of. 

Kieran, Delilah and their family lived in a city just outside of the big city of Vancouver, BC called New Westminster. Their city was very special because it was the oldest city around. In fact, New Westminster was officially a city 26 years before Vancouver was. It first was established in 1859, over 160 years before this story took place. All over New Westminster you could find little reminders of the times before. Original cobblestone streets, old rail car lines and houses that had hardly changed in over 120 years. If you talk to some of the older people who lived there their whole lives, they would tell you. While it changed a lot, some things stayed the same. Even the traffic followed many of the same routes as the electric train cars did. Even before the city was created by British colonials, the Indigenous Peoples who lived and kept the land first created many of the travel routes that would still be used today.

When the city was first mapped out, they set aside an area for a big park. They named it Queens Park and people continued to visit from then onwards. 

Kieran and Delilah lived close enough to walk. Which they did almost every week. There was a skateboard park, a stadium, soccer field, arena, dog park, playground, water park and picnic spots. Delilah and Kieran never ran out of things to do at the Park.

On this particular weekend they were walking to the park with their friend and neighbour, Ben. Ben lived in the apartment building across the street with his Dad. All three kids had been friends since they could remember and they all went to school together. On this Saturday afternoon Ben and his Dad invited the kids to join them at the park.

"What do you guys want to do when we get there?" Delilah asked.

"I brought my swim suit." Ben replied. "I am going to play in the water park I think."

"Sometimes the firetruck drives by and sprays everyone!" Delilah said. "I hope they come today."

It was around a twenty minute walk and it was a warm sunny day. The kids were working up a sweat as they walked and looked forward to cooling off in the spray, and maybe convincing Ben's Dad to get them an ice cream at the concession.

"Hey, have you heard the story about the Queen of Queens Park?" Ben asked.

"No!" Delilah exclaimed. "There can't be a real Queen of Queens Park." She thought for while. "Can there?"

"My Grandma told me that there is." Ben replied. "She said she comes out every morning, before the sun comes up and before anyone visits. Before joggers or city workers and before any cars are parked in the parking lots, she goes around to every part of the park to make sure everything is as it should be. She said that the Queen has done this since it opened in 1887 but no one has ever seen her."

"Do you really believe that?" Kieran asked. "If no one has ever seen her then how does anyone know she is real?"

"Well, have you ever seen Santa?" Ben replied sheepishly. "I guess it's just a story. But my Grandma said that her Great Grandpa told her. He helped build the park. That's how she knows the story."

The kids walked the rest of the way mostly in silence, contemplating this idea.

When Kieran, Delilah, Ben and his Dad all arrived at Queens Park it was jam packed. Many families had set up picnic areas on the grass. Children were playing in every area of the park and the water park was especially full. Behind the playground there were many large trees and kids darted this way and that way throughout the forrest area. The concession stand was open, selling hotdogs, ice cream and snacks. A perfect Summer day at the park!

The kids dropped their stuff off on the blanket Ben's Dad had rolled out and took off to the playground. Ben was excited to play a big game of tag so he started asking a bunch of the kids if they wanted to join. Pretty soon there were around 12 kids all wanting to play. The big wooden play structure was 3 stories high with 2 slides and a long fireman's pole on one side. A maze for tag.

The oldest kid was "it" first and they all ran around screaming their faces off in excitement. Kids ran up and down and all over. Very quickly Ben was "it", standing at the top of the structure. He was about to dash down the slide when all of a sudden a big crow flew down and landed right in front of the opening. He skidded to a stop.

"Watch out!" A few of the kids yelled.

The crow flew away from the top of the slide and Ben was able to see that a baby was crawling it's way up the slide. If Ben had flown down the slide he would have crashed into the baby.

"Ermmm, someone's baby is here inside the slide" Ben called out.

A frantic Mom came running over and crawled up the slide after the baby.

"Thank you!" She said to Ben, scooping the baby out of the way.

The kids continued their game of tag, having a great time, with no more near-head-on baby collisions.

A little while later, after they had worked up a big appetite and an even bigger sweat, they stopped to get an ice cream. Ben's Dad treated them all to a tasty cold treat. Kieran was so excited because he saw the local fire truck coming around the corner. He wolfed down the rest of his ice cream and stood up to greet it. As he did, he saw a big crow come swoop down and land directly behind him. He turned around and noticed that the ice cream wrapper had fallen on the ground. The crow was sitting beside the wrapper, it pecked a couple times on the ground, looked at Kieran and it took off again.

"Ok, ok, ok. I will throw it out, Mr Crow!" He laughed. Everyone laughed along with him.

 He picked up the wrapper, took it over to the garbage and ran over to get soaked by the fire truck hose.

A short while later, Delilah was taking a break in the trees beside the park. The boys were rambunctious and she needed a moment of quiet time before she joined them again. She was poking around in the trees, looking for fairy houses. The day was starting to get cooler, which she was thankful for. Delilah walked under a big old tree, inspecting what she thought might be a fairy house. Suddenly, she heard a loud sqwawk and felt a swoosh over her head. A crow came quickly and was flapping it's wings over her head. She screamed and ran back towards where Kieran and Ben were playing. When she turned back, she saw a branch falling right where she was standing just seconds ago. 

"What's wrong?!" Kieran asked fretfully.

"That branch nearly fell right on my head!" Delilah screamed with tears in her eyes. 

She was shaken up, looking back at the spot. The crow, sitting on the fallen branch took off back up into the trees.

Ben's Dad came over to console Delilah.

"Close call, Delilah." He said. "I think we have had enough fun for today. It's time to start heading back for supper anyways."

That night at the dinner table with their parents, Delilah and Kieran recalled the events of the day. They excitedly reported the giant game of tag, the ice creams, the fire truck hose soaking and Delilah's near crushing in the trees. They spoke of how much they loved the park and what it means to them to have such a fun place to visit every week. 

"Mom?" Kieran asked. "Have you ever heard of a Queen of Queens Park?"

"Of course!" Their Mom replied. 

Kieran and Delilah looked at each other, astonished.

"How come you've never told us the story?" Delilah prompted.

"I'm sure I have told you, no?" Their Mom wondered aloud. "Well, my Grandpa always told me that the Queen of Queens Park isn't a person at all. It's a bird."

Delilah was speechless. 

"What kind of bird?" She asked.

"I thought everyone knew that the Queen of Queens Park is a crow." She said matter of factly.

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Long before there were playgrounds and paths, Indigenous families lived along the river and forests near Queen’s Park.
They knew how to listen to the land, and they paid close attention to animals and birds. It is said they believed that crows were clever watchers, always noticing what was happening and reminding people to be respectful of the world around them.