Black ink tattoo of a bold kanji character above a small fuzzy black creature with white eyes, on the upper back.

Kanji and soot sprite on upper back

Lettering · Back · Black and grey · Photo

A bold black kanji character sits at the top of the image, with a thin black line hanging down to a small round, fuzzy black creature with two white eyes and trailing legs. The linework is solid black with soft shading on the creature. The ink is black only, set against pale skin with a slight redness around the design.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Nell,

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The lift has been out since Tuesday, so I've been climbing the fourteen floors with the shopping and a bad hip, and I've started counting the black fluff balls that gather on the stairwell windows. Mr Okafor from nine says they're dust that has learned to hang on. I told him the council should hire someone who can sweep above head height. He laughed, which is more than the council ever does.

Your father's old string is still strung across the balcony from the hook to the pole, the one he rigged for the tea towels. Last week one of those soot balls dropped onto it, two round eyes and thin legs trailing, and it hung there by a single thread as if it were waiting for a bus. I didn't have the heart to shoo it. Every morning since, I've said good morning to it, and every morning it has kept its place, swinging a little when the wind comes off the estate.

Here's the odd part. Yesterday the thread snapped, and the thing drifted down towards the car park, and I was sure that was the end of it. But this morning there it was again, caught on the rim of the bin lid as if it had never left. I've decided it has been looking for somewhere to land all along, and so have I. Come home for Christmas and see whether it knows you.

Love, Mum

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