In Facing the Sun

 

It was a quiet day unlike any other. The world was busy with their own daily activities that

seemed to blur out everything around them. There was simply no time to pay attention to

meaningless faces, run down shops or unknown opportunities passing them by. Either these

people were too busy to notice such things or there was a lack of caring to where they might lead

them.

 

That is why on that quiet afternoon he didn’t open his small shop on time, as he had done so

diligently for the past six months of it being open. Hardly anyone had come to pay for his skills,

though his incredible artistry seemed so obviously shown off on his own body, almost as if it

were a second skin. He’d assumed it would be difficult in his line of work, being so young and

unknown, but only now did it really seem hopeless. What had he expected? Nothing would ever

instill the sense of meaning in his life that he yearned for.

 

As he approached his tattoo parlor, nearly two hours later than the sign stated on the store’s

front window, he noticed something very different, something that definitely wasn’t there before.

That’s because standing outside his store was a woman, peering with her face pressed to the

glass looking into its interior. For a moment he allowed himself to be hopeful in having a new

customer, however when she turned to look at him he knew it couldn’t be possible. “Do you

need any help ma’am?” he asked, thinking that she must have been lost. She appeared to be

around eighty years old, perhaps older, but whatever her age, he couldn’t help but notice how

tired and defeated she looked.

 

“Do you work here?” she asked gently, “I’ve been waiting for a while, but I knew you would

show up eventually.”

 

No matter how strange the circumstance, he kindly invited the woman inside, finally

understanding that her arrival was no mistake. Leading her to a chair in the middle of the room,

he was lost for words, but it didn’t matter for the woman knew exactly what she wanted. “I

need you to make them beautiful for me,” she said, confusing the young man. However it did

not take long for him to realize what she was referring to. She began to roll up the sleeve of her

sweater, revealing six small black numbers tattooed on her arm. “Anyway you want is fine,” she

continued, avoiding his suddenly stricken expression, “Just please don’t cover them up, I still

want to be able to see them.”

 

It seemed he could no longer breathe let alone answer her simple request. It made him feel weak

as she was the one who had been through such horror in her lifetime, yet he was the one fighting

back tears. Sensing his sadness, the woman held her hand out to his, looking him straight in

the eye. “You know, after all these years, I’m finally ready to see them differently.” And he

knew. He couldn’t explain it, but in that moment he knew exactly what to do. So, he gathered

his equipment and began working, not bothering with a rough sketch, as it wasn’t necessary. The

only outline he needed was already there.

 

He worked for two solid hours, only stopping to check that the old woman was okay, although

she never moved. Her feet stayed firmly planted on the ground and her eyes staring forward,

never flinching, not even once. He had tattooed plenty of people before, some were men twice

her size and half her age, but even they couldn’t fully handle the pain. To him, it seemed as if she

felt nothing.

 

When he was finished he wiped away the excess ink with a damp cloth. He took her hand in his

as they both took a deep breath in. “Are you ready?” he asked, unsure of what her answer might

be. She gave a slight nod and slowly looked down at her arm that had always reminded her of

such pain and sadness, however for the first time in as long as she could remember; she looked at

that arm and smiled.

 

Perfectly blended with such awful memories, and woven between each dark number were three

bright sunflowers. “They remind me of you,” he said, wanting to explain, “No matter what, they

always find a way to face the sun.”

 

She didn’t know how to thank him, as she thought there couldn’t possibly be a way to express

all she was feeling. All she managed was one simple phrase, “They are beautiful.” The man

smiled at her, because never once has that ever been enough for him. For the first time, in that

moment, it was really all that was needed.