Black and grey realism style tattoo of an owl holding a heart-shaped padlock and key above shaded roses, on the upper arm of a woman in a white top.

Owl, heart padlock and roses on an upper arm

Traditional · Upper arm · Black and grey · Photo

A large owl with wide eyes and a feather above its head sits on the upper arm, holding a heart-shaped padlock with a keyhole and a key. Roses are shaded in soft greys beneath the owl, and the fine stippling and detailed feather texture give the design depth. The image is entirely black and grey, with the arm angled diagonally across the frame and a white top and grey background behind it.

Traditional Realism Upper arm Owl Keyhole Key Rose Feather

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Mags, I found the key in the bottom of Aunt Ivy's tea caddy the morning after the funeral, wrapped in a bit of oilcloth with a note that said only: for the owl. You always said she was a witch for keeping that old owl on the landing, and I always said she was a sweet old woman who liked birds. Neither of us was right, it turns out. The padlock on the chest in the attic has a heart on its face, just like the one she drew on the back of every Christmas card, and when I put the key in it turned as easy as butter.

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Inside were letters, forty years of them, tied in ribbon, all addressed to a man called Tobias Greave at the mill on the Hollin road. None were sent. Each one ends the same way: I have not forgotten the woods, and neither has the owl. I walked up to the edge of the trees last night with the lantern and I swear the big grey bird on the gatepost turned its head and watched me the whole way, unblinking, as if it were counting the roses I've left on the step.

I am not sure what to do with any of it. Maybe you can come up on Saturday and we can burn the lot in the grate, or read them aloud by the fire the way Ivy used to read us ghost stories. I have kept the key on a string round my neck. It is warm when I wake, which is nonsense, I know. Bring your good scissors. I want to cut the ribbon myself.

Love, Nell