Black and grey shaded pine cone tattoo on the inner wrist, with part of a floral tattoo visible on the forearm above it.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Pine cone tattoo on the wrist

Realism · Forearm · Black and grey · Photo

A small pine cone is tattooed on the inner wrist, with its scales drawn in dark outlines and grey shading that gives it volume. Part of a darker floral tattoo with leaves and blossoms runs along the upper forearm at the left edge of the frame. The plain black clothing and blurred chequered floor keep the focus on the hand and the tattoo.

Realism Botanical Forearm Pine cone Flower Leaves Botanical

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Tom,

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The frost came early this year and took the last of the windfalls before Dad could get the ladder under the Bramley. I am writing rather than ringing because the line goes dead every time the wind turns, and because some things are easier to put on paper where nobody can hear you swallow.

The old Scots pine by the far gate came down in Thursday's gale, not all the way, just enough to lean on the top wall like a drunk man at a bus stop. Dad went out with the saw at first light and came back grey to the lips. The cones were scattered across the snow after it, dozens of them, and I gathered a basketful for the range. They open by the fire and close again when the cold creeps back in, which is more than I can say for anyone in this house.

The wall will need rebuilding before lambing, and Dad says the top field is to go to the Hallidays at Michaelmas. He has not said it to me, only to the kettle, but I heard him. I think he would like you here for the signing, though he would never ask. You always knew which stones to lift and which to leave.

I have kept the best cone for you. It still has sap on its tip from the branch that fell on Thursday. I have put it in the left pocket of your old waxed coat, the one on the hook by the back door, so you will find it when you come. Hold it in your palm for a minute. It will open.