Small black fine line tattoo of a looped swirl symbol on the back of a person's neck, below the hairline.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Looped swirl symbol on the back of the neck

Fine line · Neck · Black and grey · Photo

A small black tattoo of a stylised symbol made of looping curves and a central stem sits on the back of the neck, just below the hairline. The linework is smooth and even with consistent weight, and the design is solid black with no shading. The skin is pale and the background is softly out of focus, so the tattoo is the clear focal point.

Fine line Neck Symbol Swirl Loop Knot Hair

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Callum,

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The mail boat missed Tuesday and again today, so Mrs Gillies has been baking with the last of the flour, and the wind has gone round to the north-east and sits on the harbour like a dog that won't shift. I've been down to the slip each evening with the lamp, the way Da did, counting the boats in and out until the numbers stop meaning anything.

The rope you left in the boathouse is still on the hook. I had a go at the knot you showed me last summer, the one that loops back on itself and then curls round to hold the stem. Nine attempts before it lay flat. Ferdie at the shop says it's a bowline with airs, which is what you'd expect from a thing you tied to annoy me. I've pinned the best one above the kitchen door, where the draught can't get at it.

Here's the thing I haven't said plainly. The council man came over on Saturday with his folder and wants the cottage cleared by spring. He was kind about it and left a cup of tea going cold on the windowsill. I told him I'd think. I have thought. I've thought about the ferry timetable and the bairns who won't have a school bus, and I keep arriving back at the slip with the lamp.

So I'm coming over on the first boat that actually sails, with the rope in my bag and the lamp unlit, because the lighthouse has an electric light now and Da would have hated that. If I'm late, go to the post office and ask for the knot. Someone there will tie it for you the right way round.

Love, Ailsa