Cartoon tattoo of the Cat in the Hat balancing on a ball and juggling books, in black and grey with red accents, on an arm.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Cat in the Hat juggling books on an arm

Other · Mixed · Photo

The tattoo shows a cartoon cat in a red and white striped hat and red bow tie, balancing on a striped ball while juggling three open books. The body is drawn in black linework with grey shading, and the hat, bow tie and ball stripe are filled in red. The design sits centrally on the limb against a patterned background, with the books spread around the figure.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Tomasz, the ferry is late again, so I am writing this on the back of a tide table while Mum shouts at the kettle. You will not believe what turned up on the slipway on Tuesday. A cat, tall as the bollard, in a striped hat that was red and white like a peppermint, and a bow tie to match. He was balancing on a ball that rolled about as if it had opinions, and he was juggling three books at once.

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Books, I mean. Proper ones, open and flapping, pages turning over in the air like gulls. Mr Pellow from the chandlery said he'd seen him do it before, every spring, when the herring boats come in. Nobody knows where he sleeps. The harbour dogs won't go near him and the gulls keep their distance, which for gulls is a kind of respect.

Here's the odd part. Dad's old chart of the bay was in the hut by the net loft, and when I went to fetch it, the cat had left one of his books face-up on the bench. It was a map. Not of the bay, exactly, but of the bay with the lighthouse moved two streets inland, and a little ink arrow pointing at the chandlery's back step where the tin is kept.

I've not dug there yet. I thought you should be the one to hold the spade, since you always said I'd dig up the wrong thing. Come home by Friday. Bring the good torch.

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