Three small black swallows in flight tattooed on the back of a neck, in a fine line style, partly framed by hair.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Three swallows on the nape of the neck

Fine line · Neck · Black and grey · Photo

Three small swallows fly in a diagonal line across the skin at the nape of the neck, each drawn as a dark silhouette with fine wing and tail detail. The shading is soft and sparse, and the birds are set against pale skin with hair falling at the top of the frame. The photograph is in greyscale and the composition is close and slightly angled.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Tom,

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The swallows went on the Tuesday after the first frost, which Dad said was early and Mum said was nothing to fret over. I watched from the yard gate with the feed bucket against my hip. They rose off the wire in a ragged line, three of them, and then they were over the top field, and then they were only a smudge over the hedge where the road bends towards Tiverton. You always said they were heading for somewhere with proper sun. I hope you're right, because the hayloft has gone very quiet.

I found your old penknife in the drawer under the Aga this morning, the one with the chipped bone handle. I've put it in the envelope with this, so you'll have to write back and say whether I'm allowed to keep it. Dad hasn't mentioned you at supper since the letter from the agent came. He just passes the salt and looks at the window.

The thing is, I've started counting the empty nests along the rafters, the way you used to. Seven. Each one is a cup of mud and straw stuck to the beam, and I keep thinking the birds will come back to the same ones next spring, as if nothing needs explaining to them. Maybe that's the trick of it. You just go, and the road brings you back.

Anyway. Three of them went in the end, and I watched every wing bend until the hedge took them. Write when you can. Bring some sun back with you if you find any.

Love, Jess

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