Black outline tattoo of two swallows in flight on the inner forearm near the wrist, in a traditional style.

Two swallows on a wrist

Traditional · Forearm · Black and grey · Photo

Two swallows in flight are drawn in a single dark ink outline on the inside of a forearm, one above the other and angled in different directions. The linework is clean and even, with no shading, so the birds read as flat silhouettes with simple wing and tail details. The photo is taken in warm, muted tones against a wooden floor, and the skin tone and surrounding areas are unmodified by colour.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Marguerite,

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The ovens were already warm when I got in this morning, the flour dust still hanging in the yard light as if it hadn't decided whether to settle. Mr Okafor had left the sponges proving under damp cloths, and the back room smelled of yeast and the scorched tang of the oven door. I have meant to write since the funeral, but the bread keeps getting in the way, which I suppose is how you would want it.

Something happened at half four that I want you to know about. I was loading the first tray when two swallows came through the open skylight, fast and low, and they went straight round the proving racks as though they had an appointment. They circled the bench twice, dipped under the lamp, and were gone again into the grey. I stood there with the peel in my hand like a fool. You always said they nest in the old stable every spring, and I told you that was sentiment. I am less sure now.

I have been sleeping badly. The shop is quiet at this hour except for the mixer and the radio murmuring about the weather over Kent. I keep thinking of the way they cut the air, so certain of the gap between one wall and the next, and how you used to say the trick was not to be afraid of the turn.

The loaves came out golden at six. I left the first one on the windowsill for them, which is ridiculous, and I am aware of it. Come up in May if you can. The swallows will be back, and I would like you to see the bread, and to tell me I am still allowed to be ridiculous.

Love, Hannah

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