Fine line tattoo of a grey sloth hanging from a red balloon on the upper back, with the string drawn in black.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Sloth hanging from a red balloon on upper back

Fine line · Back · Mixed · Photo

A cartoon sloth hangs by its arms from a single string attached to a red balloon with a small white highlight. The sloth is shaded in soft greys with a black outline, and its face is simple and smiling. The design sits centrally on pale skin, with the balloon placed above the sloth and open space around both.

Fine line Back Sloth Balloon String Cartoon

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Mr Pike, further to your notice in the lift about unauthorised items on balconies, I am reporting a sloth. It is hanging from a red balloon outside my kitchen window on the ninth floor. I have read the tenancy agreement twice and can find nothing about sloths, though it does say no hanging from the railings, and I would argue that the sloth is not technically hanging from the railings.

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It arrived on Tuesday, during the wind. Ivy from number 22 says it came off the coconut shy on Hallows Green, where a lad had sold it a balloon for fifty pence and then, by her account, the sloth had simply taken hold of the string and would not let go. Nobody on the estate claims it. It has not moved much since. Each morning it looks at my tea through the glass with an expression of mild interest, as though it has already read the council's paperwork and found it wanting.

On Thursday I went out with a broom to unhook it. The sloth opened one eye, considered the broom, then considered me, and very slowly reached up with its free arm and took a firmer grip on the string. I have taken that as a refusal. I am not convinced the balloon has enough lift left to bring it down either, and I suspect the sloth has never been in any hurry to find out.

So I am asking whether the council will treat it as a lawful tenant, or whether you would kindly send someone with a ladder who does not mind a bit of slow. I have put the kettle on for two, in case it changes its mind. Yours, Gordon Lusk, Flat 9.