Pictures on her skin

Jill was coming over to visit mum to talk about her holiday.

Auntie Jill went to faraway places and collected lots of fantastic things.  Wee trinkets, jewellery, beautiful photographs so they could see where she’d been, even pictures in her skin!

Mary loved the pictures on her skin. 

They fascinated Mary; although sometimes they slightly scared Mary too, you never know when one might come to life when you’re not looking.

The best bit was the stories Jill told about each of the pictures, they were brilliant too.  

All of the images had its own reason for being chosen and placed in Jill’s skin so she would always remember that moment and made sure they didn’t rub off.

Each of the dragons, the butterflies, the patterns and how they were made, why the flowers were important with their individual meanings, even the wiggly doodles, they all had a memory behind them.

Mary could never remember if the story changed slightly or if it was a different image but she didn't care! Both the image and the reasons were brilliant.

Mum and Jill would sit and talk over tea and biscuits wile Mary drew pictures of the new place Jill had just returned home from. 

Mary would draw and colour-in pictures from Jill’s story, sometimes on paper, and sometimes a wee picture on her own arm or leg. It would wash off after a bath, but Mary didn’t mind because she might change her mind tomorrow and want something different or even nothing at all!  It just meant Mary could draw something new when the auntie Jill came to visit again.

This new place sounded lovely, sunny and warm, with fancy trees and big bright flowers. 

Mary could see in the photo’s all of the wildlife looked so different too.  They were all brightly colored from the fish, to the birds even the insects.

“Is that so they can blend in with the flowers?” asked Mary.

“Oh maybe, or maybe they want to stand out and be noticed so they don’t get eaten,” replied Jill.

“I don’t understand?” replied Mary shaking her head in confsion.

“Well sometimes nature has a way of letting everyone know if something might be dangerous.  See these brightly coloured creepy crawlies?” said Jill pointing to a caterpillar.  “That’s to warn the birds that they don’t taste very nice and might give them a sore tummy so the birds will hopefully stay away from those.”

“Oh cool, but what about the bright birds?”

“Well they are just lovely and very lucky that they can fly away very quickly with their feathered wings, colorful and intelligent,” smiled Jill.

“I hope I can be colorful and intelligent when I grow up.”

“I like that I can change my pictures, can you change yours?”

“Those are some very cleaver pictures, I can’t change mine but mum or me could take a photo of yours so you don’t forget them.”

“I like the sound of that” smiled a very exited Mary already posing for the photo.

“The best of both worlds,” whispered mum to Jill with a wink.