Fine line black and grey tattoo of three moon phases with a dotted constellation on the inner upper arm, stippled shading on the moons.

Moon phases and constellation on upper arm

Fine line · Upper arm · Black and grey · Photo

A black and grey tattoo shows three moon phases in a diagonal row: a full moon, a partly lit moon and a crescent. The moons are shaded with fine dots and stippling to suggest surface texture, while a constellation of thin lines and small dots links the crescent with the star pattern beside it. The pale, plain background and soft lighting keep the focus on the arm.

Fine line Dotwork Upper arm Moon Moon phase Crescent moon Full moon Constellation Star

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

The almanac said the moon would be full on the Thursday, but Maren had already counted the nights on the slate by the back door, and the sky over Skerra had its own ideas. Her grandmother had chalked the phases in a column beside the tide times, one small shape for each night, and Maren kept the habit even though the ferryman now printed his tables on card. Full, half, thin. The thin ones were the nights when the sea came up the slipway without asking.

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The Net-Mender was out past the skerries that evening, and the wind had gone round to the north-west the way it did before a blow. Maren pulled the old ledger from the dresser and turned to the page where her grandmother had joined the stars with pencil, a loose stitched line across the dark. The Net-Mender was really only seven points and a few threads, but on Skerra people steered by it when the lamp on the mainland failed. She traced the line with her thumb until the paper softened.

She took the lantern up to the headland as the moon rose lopsided over the water, a bright edge like a paring. Below her the boat's light came and went between the swells. She counted the stars the way her grandmother had taught her, following the threads, until the Net-Mender stood clear above the black cliffs and the boat's light turned towards it and steadied.

Tobias came up the slipway an hour later, soaked and cursing the weather, and found the slate wiped clean except for one small circle in the corner. It was still blank. Maren had left it empty on purpose, because a full moon was only a promise until the nets were in.