Fine line black outline of the African continent on the inner forearm, with a small red heart and a tiny star marked on the map.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Africa map outline on a forearm

Fine line · Forearm · Mixed · Photo

A black fine line outline of the African continent sits on the inner forearm of a raised arm, with a small red heart near the eastern coast and a small star on the west. The linework is single and even with no shading, and the solid black ink contrasts with the touch of red. The wrist, a silver bangle and a white sleeve are visible around the tattoo against a dark wooden background.

Fine line Forearm Africa Map Outline Heart Star

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Tomas,

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The last sheet went through the press this morning, and I have been sitting over the bench ever since with the ruling pen in my hand, because the coast will not close. Mr Hale wanted one unbroken line from the top of the page to the bottom, no lifting, no shading, the way he says a proper chart should be drawn. I have done it four times now. Each time the line runs true until the Gulf, and then my wrist remembers the tremor from the winter you were ill, and I must start again on fresh card.

I put the star on the west side where the lamp stands above the harbour wall. You will remember it, the one we used to count from the steps of the chandler's. It is the first thing a sailor sees coming home, and I thought you should carry it on the side nearest your heart, if that is not too sentimental. The red I kept for last. Mrs Okafor's little pot of cochineal had dried to a crust, so I softened it with a drop of gum and touched it to the eastern shore, where the old cape bends. That is where Amara's village sits in my mind, though I have never been and the atlas only shows a dot.

Hale says the printer wants the plate by Friday and that the shop will shut at Michaelmas. He has offered me the crate of blank card and the good pens if I want them. I told him I would take only the pen and this sheet.

So I am sending you the first pull, the one I spoiled and then corrected. Hang it where the light falls across it in the mornings. Whatever port you reach, the line will still be one line, and you will know exactly where you began.

Yours, Ellen