The Story of Little Wing

Little Wing lived on the hip of a girl. His positioning on her hip was not the best, he had a scar from a C-section running through one wing and a few stretch marks here and there from the girl bearing children. The girl’s weight occasionally fluctuated making him look better on some days than other, but Little Wing didn’t mind so much, he liked the girl. He knew that his positioning was chosen to cover the name of the man that she had spent 23 years with as well as a scrappy Winnie the Pooh. She felt bad about covering her Pooh Bear, but she was sure he would be fine behind Little Wing.

The girl thought long and hard about what to chose to cover the name that no longer had meaning to her. She had good memories as well as bad with the man who bore that name, but she needed to get on with her life and put that one behind her. She knew she wanted to get a watercolor tattoo but was uncertain of the subject matter. A paw print, to represent the dogs she owned? Another flower to match the ones on her back?? Maybe just covering the name to make it look like Pooh was sitting on a patch of grass? None of these felt right.

The girl was involved with a man whose name came from the Inuit word for Blue Jay. It sounded much like the cry the birds made. She had met him months prior in a serendipitous chain of events. She was instantly drawn to him, like no other. She had no idea exactly what the nature of this involvement was, and doesn’t to this day. But, the thought of a magnificent watercolor blue jay, felt like the perfect solution. So, in essence, she was covering one man’s name with another. This one was a more subtle choice however and few people knew the significance. She would know the meaning as would the man. Most other people would just see a pretty tattoo.

Her best friend thought she was insane. “He is not even your boyfriend” she said. “I know, but it just feels right” the girl replied. The friend knew the girl well enough to know that she was going to follow her gut so the topic was dropped. When her mother questioned it, the girl explained that the man had impacted her significantly. She didn’t know why, but he had stirred feelings that had not been felt in many years. Although she loved the man whose name was on her hip before, it was a comfortable love. One that was friendship, companionship, but with no real passion. The girl explained to her mother that regardless of how things turned out with this man, he had marked her. So, it was fitting that the mark was represented by Little Wing. He had reminded the girl of who she was before, and what she could feel. He was her muse.

She found an artist that specialized in cover ups. It took her many calls; most artists did not want to do coverups. She got the tattoo in the summer, so it was during the busy season for them. The tattoo came out even better than she had expected. All traces of the former tattoo were gone. She sent the man a picture of her new tattoo with no explanation of why she got it. He told her it was beautiful, and her heart melted. Maybe someday the girl will regret her decision to get this reminder of the man, but she doesn’t think so.