Excerpt: Ink

Claudia pinned open the tent flaps and the first customer of the day wandered in - a little girl hanging off the hand of her grandfather. Claudia sent them to Mo.

Mo nervously swirled the water around in its pot.

“Hello,” she said, hoping they didn’t notice her shaking hands. “My name is Mo. What are your names?”

The little girl hid her face in her grandfather’s leg.

“I am Mr. Ian Woon,” the old man said. He extricated his granddaughter and placed her on the stool opposite Mo. “And this is Gwen.”

Mo smiled at Gwen, bringing her face down to the little girl’s level. “And what would you like, Gwen?”

“Just the normal face painting,” Mr. Ian Woon said, running his fingers over his own tattoo. It circled his eye, disappearing into the old man’s eyebrow. It had faded to light brown over the years.

Mo chose her thin brush, appropriate for the intricate design on the canvas of a small child’s face.

“Hold very still,” Mo said. “And look straight forward.”

Mo drew the first line on the little girl’s face, slightly squiggly but not so anyone but her would notice. She took a deep, steadying breath and continued on, her brushstrokes becoming more sure with each passing moment.

Though Mistress Tirencia encouraged it, Mo didn’t talk to either Gwen or Mr. Ian Woon. It was all she could do to concentrate on design at hand. Mr. Ian Woon kept up a constant stream of words, telling stories from the Fairs they had when he was a child. Mo didn’t contribute anything more than an occasional “Yeah” or “Oh” to the conversation, but it seemed to be enough.

Mo couldn’t draw the full tattoo, since that would require shaving off one of Gwen’s little eyebrows, but she did what she could.

Mo held up a mirror. Gwen examined the tattoo. She looked at Mo for the first time and smiled.

“It looks great,” Mr. Ian Woon said. He tapped her granddaughter on the head. “And what do you say?”

“…nkyou…” the little girl mumbled to the ground.

“You’re welcome,” Mo replied with a big smile. This wasn’t so bad.