Black outlined swallow in flight with soft grey shading on pale skin, in a traditional style.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Swallow in flight, black outline

Traditional · Black and grey · Photo

A single swallow in flight, with its wings spread and tail forked, is drawn in a bold black outline. Soft grey shading sits along the inner edges of the wings and body, while the centre of the bird is left as plain skin. The bird fills most of a close, straight-on frame against a pale background.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Tom,

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The swallows came back to the potting shed on Tuesday, two of them, swinging in under the gutter as if they had never been away. I stood at the kitchen window with the kettle going cold and watched them stitch the air over the lawn. Your grandad would have said it was too early, that the frost hadn't finished with us, but they know their business better than either of us.

I've been clearing his bench at last. Under a tin of rusted screws I found the drawing he made the summer you were born, a bird shaped out of three strokes of pencil, tail split like a pair of scissors. He never could draw a face, but he could do a swallow in four lines. I've pinned it above the sink where the light comes in.

The nest under the eaves is a mess of mud and straw. Last year I told the man from the council it was a nuisance and I'd have it knocked down. I didn't. Now they're back, dipping low over the wet grass after flies, and I haven't the heart to tell them the shed is being turned into a studio for Mrs Okafor's weaving.

Come up at the weekend and bring the good secateurs. Stand by the fence at dusk and you'll see them go over the roses in a line, low and quick, and then turn all at once, like a thought changing its mind. Bring your sketchbook. I'd like to see whether you can get the tail right.

Love, Nan

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