Tattoo girl

The day she created her first tattoo, Rohini realized that she had magic in her fingers. Literally. Every groove she inked into a person’s skin danced with a life of its own. The design called out to her and she responded to it with abandon. She would look at the person who came to her and in a flash knew what to draw. For instance, Kiri was a dolphin girl. Nothing else would sit on her skin. So Rohini created one and watched it almost weave its way across her rounded shoulders. When Rosto came to her his ebony skin demanded something unique and at once she knew that it had to be the intricately patterned sphinx moth. Under her talented fingers the colourful speckles came to life till Rosto’s back became the nesting spot of this beautiful creature. Rohini’s face broke into a smile. Her fingers were magical, indeed and she had no idea how they got that way.

And then one day, she knew why. That was the day she met Gore. Gore with his lazy eye and a mouth that rarely smiled. There was an air of barely concealed raw power even when he was sitting down. She had no idea what the design was going to be. Almost as if moving with a force of its own her fingers started moving. At first Rohini positioned the needle on his right shoulder.  It seemed like the most likely place, but of its own volition her hand moved to his heart. She resisted. And when she looked at Gore he looked at her as if daring her to ignore what was being asked of her.

She felt a frisson of excitement as she started. The design started forming. She still had the magic in her fingers. And then she began drawing. She saw a face appear and then the lips and a freckled chin formed. They seemed to be familiar. A few loose strands of hair had spilled on to her forehead and she pushed them away in a distracted manner. She continued with the tattoo. Gore barely moved. His muscles under her hand seemed relaxed.

The face she was drawing was almost over. She added the last little touches with a flourish and then stepped back to examine her handiwork. And that was when Rohini realized that it was as if she was looking at a mirror. The strands of hair on the forehead accentuated the features. She almost dropped the tattoo needle in fear. And as her glance fell on Gore’s face she noticed his smile. It seemed to say something.

But all Rohini could register was the fact that she had no idea where she was. As if a part of her was missing.