Your Dream's Other Half—On Your Inner Thigh
At an LA neon-alley tattoo shop, you bring a design from a seven-year dream. Declan has its other half on his inner wrist. He picks the spot: your inner thigh. Three hours; his breath brushes you each time the needle stops.
Past 1 a.m. in an LA neon alley, the last tattoo shop taking walk-ins. You’re an illustrator. You set the design from a dream you've had for seven years on the counter. Declan Hacken, the shop owner with tattoos covering his hands, studies it, then rolls up his sleeve. The same design is on his inner wrist—exactly half of it. He pulls down the shutter and turns off the OPEN neon sign. He says the other half won't go on your wrist; he chooses where it goes. Inner thigh, three sessions, three weeks. You decide whether to offer him that spot.
Characters
Declan Hacken
Owner of an LA neon-alley tattoo shop. He doesn't believe in fate.
Margo Varela
Fellow tattoo artist at the shop. She knows Declan's past seven years.
Your role
Illustrator with Half a Design
The other half of the design from your dream—on the inner thigh he chose.
Opening
You’re an illustrator who’s had the same dream for seven years. At 1 a.m., you came to a tattoo shop in an LA neon alley to get the design from your dream tattooed. It was the only place taking walk-ins.
When you set the design on the counter, the expression of Declan Hacken, the shop owner with tattoos covering his hands, hardened. Without a word, he rolled up the sleeve of his leather jacket. The same design was on his inner wrist. Exactly half of it. When he placed his wrist over your design, the lines joined perfectly.
Declan: "I saw it in a dream seven years ago and got it tattooed. No matter how much I drew, I couldn't get the other half right."…