Colour neo-traditional tattoo of three owls on a branch against a bare tree and orange moon, on the upper arm.

Three owls on a branch on upper arm

Neo-trad · Upper arm · Colour · Photo

A large purple owl with orange eyes and beak sits centre, flanked by a smaller teal owl on the left and a pink owl on the right, all perched on a dark branch. Bare black branches and a pale orange moon sit behind them, with a dark tree trunk forming the base. Bold black outlines, smooth colour fills and soft shading give the design a bright, cartoon-like finish, arranged in a tall composition across the upper arm.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Every evening Edie Fenwick counted the owls from the back step, and every evening the total came out differently. Three on the pear tree's crooked branch, she would say, flicking her tea leaves into the hedge. Then the big one would turn its head and there would be a fourth, sulking in the shadow of the trunk, and Edie would sigh and start again.

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The owls did not care for arithmetic. The purple one, Mother Gladwin's pride, had come with the cottage and believed itself the landlord. The teal one had hatched in the chimney the spring the roof leaked and talked constantly about the weather. The pink one was the newest, arriving in a fish crate of Whitby kippers, and had never quite forgiven anybody for the crate.

The autumn Edie's knees gave out, the moon hung low and orange over the orchard for a week. Nobody came out to fetch the washing or the tea tray. The owls shuffled closer along their branch and watched the back door with wide, unimpressed eyes, as if the house owed them an explanation.

On the seventh night a light came on in the kitchen. Edie's grandson stood at the sink, badly pretending he was not frightened, and the purple owl gave a low hoot that meant he should put the kettle on. He did. When Edie hobbled out at dawn with the biscuit tin, the owls had counted themselves and got three exactly, and they were very pleased with themselves indeed.

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