Fine line black outline of a landmass on an upper arm near the elbow, with a small solid red heart linked to its edge by a thin line, in a Fine line style.

Outline map with red heart on upper arm

Fine line · Upper arm · Mixed · Photo

A single-line black outline of a landmass sits on the outer upper arm, close to the elbow, with a thin line running from its edge to a small solid red heart. The linework is fine and even, and the red fill is the only colour in the design. The shallow depth of field blurs the background and the faded tattoo on the forearm behind, keeping the focus on the main design.

Fine line Upper arm Outline Map Heart Line

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Morwenna, The ferry was late again, so I have been sitting on the quay at Carrick Hythe with the gulls for company and this pen that keeps skipping. The man in the ticket hut says the Tern won't sail before Thursday, which gives me time to write properly. I'm going to draw you the island the way Dad used to, on the back of an old chart, with the coastline rising and falling like a bad night's sleep.

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You'll remember the outline he kept pinned above the range: the long bay on the east side, the notch where the river runs out, the hook of the north headland. I have traced it three times now, and each time my pencil wanders off to the left, where the cliffs crumble into the sea. Mrs Ashdown at the chandlery says the coast loses a yard every winter. She still sells postcards of the lighthouse, which won't be standing in ten years, and she knows it and sells them anyway.

The heart is where I've put the harbour, the bit I miss most. I drew a thin thread from the coast down to the quay so you'd know where to find me if the boat never comes. Don't come looking. Just write and tell me whether the kettle still rattles in the second bedroom and whether the blue gate has finally been painted.

The Tern's horn has just gone, two short blasts. I'm folding this up with the map inside, so when you unfold it you'll see the exact spot the heart was meant to be.