My First Tattoo, Part II.

Jan 04, 2008 - 21:53 PM PST

This is the second version of "My First Tattoo" that I wrote for that class. It was initially inspired by a tongue twister we used as a vocal warm-up for play rehearsals that contains the line "They'll beat a tattoo in a minute or two". It was secondarily inspired by actual events.
The definition is literally taken from a dictionary; the example included.


My First Tattoo, Part II
Rebecca Pilling


Tattoo: n. 1) a signal on a drum, bugle or trumpet at night, for soldiers or sailors to go to their quarters.
2) a knocking or strong pulsation. ex. my heart beat a tattoo on my ribs.


Strong arms wrapped, one around her waist, one around her neck. They held her warm body close to another warm body – her head rested on the chest.
The fingers of her left hand intertwined with the fingers of his left hand; her right clutched his shoulder.
Her eardrums felt, rather than heard, the steady tattoo beating within his chest. She felt her own heart pounding the same rhythm.
So warm they were, so close, so intimate – lying on the floor. Best friends, colleagues, partners, equals.
The words they spoke to one another were validating and reassuring – words that stemmed from understanding, familiarity and a history of Platonic Love that had suddenly become . . . altered.
As the beating became stronger, they held tighter to one another knowing they oughtn’t fall asleep there – but not wanting to break the embrace, to lose that impetuous intimacy.

Long after the moment has ended, she still feels his arms around her, smells his cologne, sees his sleeve sweeping around her and tastes his G&T she’d stolen sips of all that night – but most of all she hears the beating of the tattoo echoing in the hollow of her own fragile frame.