826CHI Volunteer Photo Book: My World Project - Part 1: MERMAIDS, DRAGONS, AND UNICORNS, OH MY!

MERMAIDS, DRAGONS, AND UNICORNS, OH MY!, Photo and Story by Rebekah Ward


“The coupon is expired ma’am.”
“What? Really?”
“It expired June 30th.”
“Oh, well, I guess I should have checked the date before coming all this way.”
“Do you still want tickets?”
“No, I don’t think we’ll be buying tickets here. We have a family pass to the Planetarium. That’s free for us.”
“But Mom, I don’t want to go to the Planetarium. I want to stay at the Field Museum and see Mythic Creatures.”
“Shut up; you’re so annoying.”
“Don’t push me! Mom!”
“Stop pushing your brother. We can’t see Mythic Creatures today. Our coupon expired. It’s too much money to pay for general admission and the Mythic Creatures exhibit for all of us. We’ll go to the Planetarium instead because we have a family pass. Thank you very much.”
“Have a great day ma’am.”
“You too.”
And then she lumbered through the exit, five children with her.

The little girl sulked all the way to the Planetarium, where there would be no swimming mermaids with fiery red hair like Ariel, no fanciful, fire-breathing dragons flying through the sky, no phoenix rising from the ashes, no centaur galloping through the forest, and definitely no beautiful silver unicorns with their long, piercing horns.

They say that narwhals’ horns have been mistaken for unicorns’ horns. The little girl knew, however, that the opposite is true.