Black and white photo of a small single-line fine line dolphin tattoo on the side of the ribs, with a dark fabric edge on the left.

Small dolphin outline on the side ribs

Fine line · Ribs · Black and grey · Photo

A small dolphin is drawn in a single unshaded black outline, swimming horizontally with its dorsal fin and tail fin defined by the line. The linework is thin and even, and the design is filled only by the skin tone, with no shading or colour. The dolphin sits centrally in the frame against a smooth, softly lit area of skin, with dark fabric along the left edge.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Tom,

Keep reading

The ferry was late again, so I sat on the bench by the Pier Head with the city going orange behind me and tried to remember how you drew dolphins on the back of the gas bill when we were nine. You never lifted the pencil. Mum said it was showing off. You said it was the only way to make something look like it was still moving.

I've been thinking about that all week, since the letter came from the shipping office saying the Corran is due back on the fourteenth. Nobody there would tell me whether you're on her. They read out the crew list like a shopping order and asked if I wanted to leave a message at the desk.

So here's mine. I walked down to the river after the shop shut, and the lamps along the wall made the water look like poured ink. A little pod of porpoises had been let back out off the slipway, or so a man in a hi-vis told me, and I stood there until the cold got into my fingers, watching the grey backs roll up and vanish.

I'm not sure what I'm asking. Just come home in one piece, and when you do, draw me something without taking the pencil off the page. I'll keep the gas bill.

Love, Nell

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