Black and grey tattoo of a seated, stylised cat with a curled tail, placed on the back of a person's neck.

Seated cat tattoo on the back of the neck

Neck · Black and grey · Photo

A seated cat is drawn in bold black outline with a sinuous tail curling up on the left and its head turned to the right. The body and tail are filled with soft grey and purple-grey shading that gives the form some depth against the skin. The tattoo sits centrally on the back of the neck, with the hairline and a cap edge visible at the top of the frame.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Nell, The grey cat came ashore on Tuesday's boat in a fish crate marked for Mrs Tully, and nobody on Inish Carrig will admit to ordering her. She is sleek as wet slate, with a tail that curls up like a question mark, and every evening she sits on the harbour wall facing the mainland as if she expects the ferry to turn round.

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I tried to put her out of the shop on Thursday. Mrs Tully said the cat had already chosen the shop and I was welcome to argue with her. So I have been leaving herring heads on the back step and pretending I haven't. The islanders say she belonged to the Greer boy who went over to Galway in the spring and never sent word back. Nobody says it to my face, but they all look at her when they say it.

Last night the wind came round to the north and the lamp on the point went out for an hour. I went down with a torch expecting to find her sheltering under the upturned boats, but she was sitting on the very end of the pier, head turned over her shoulder, watching the black water with that patience of hers. When the lamp flickered back on she stood, stretched, and walked past me toward home with her tail up, as though she had been the one keeping the light.

I think I'll keep her. Write back and tell me whether Mam ever let us have a cat when we were small. Yours, Maeve.

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