Black and grey dotwork tattoo of two skulls facing each other above a rose, on a forearm.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Two skulls and a rose on a forearm

Dotwork · Forearm · Black and grey · Photo

The tattoo shows two human skulls angled towards each other, with a rose with shaded petals sitting beneath them. The outlines are bold and the skulls and petals are filled with stippled dotwork shading that builds up tone in grey and black. The design fills the forearm, with the skulls at the top and the rose at the lower edge of the frame against a plain light background.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Tom, the frost has got into the lower field again and the ground rings like a bell under the spade. I'm writing because the drainage men turned up two skulls in the bank below the orchard on Tuesday, and Mr Pryce says they've been there longer than the farm has had a name. They were lying with their faces together, not a hand's width apart, as if they'd been having a quiet word before the earth closed over them.

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Mr Pryce wanted them handed to the constable. I didn't. I washed them at the trough with a bit of soap, the way Mam washed the good plates, and I sat them on the kitchen windowsill to dry. The cat won't go near them. The milk is on the stove and the kettle is shouting, but I keep looking across at them, tipping in towards each other as though they're about to say something they've waited years to say.

You asked on the phone whether I'm keeping the old place going. I am. The rose by the gate has finally given up its last hip. Yesterday, with the light gone sideways over the pasture, I dug a hole beneath it and laid them down side by side, facing in, the way they had been. I put the roots back over them and pressed the soil down with my boot. It's a poor sort of ceremony, but the wind dropped while I did it, which I'll take as a yes.

Come home at Easter if you can. The rose will be back by June, and I want you to see it, petals and all. Bring your good coat. The lane is treacherous and I've no salt left.

Love, Ada

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