Altogether unusual

The monster

'What would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark? It would be like sleep without dreams.'

Werner Herzog

I stayed in bed thinking about whom I have become, letting disappointment wash over me.

At five o'clock in the morning I dress myself and go downstairs to eat a very early breakfast. I am not hungry, but I know I must eat something. Jeremy had the saloon registered for one of the biggest tattoo conventions in Europe. The next three days will be epic. I'll get to meet my idols, I'll do tattoos and try my best to make an impression. There are contests on the programme, which we want to participate in. Winning is on my mind, but I'm afraid to hope. I'm too young, too unexperienced. When Jeremy arrives in front of my house I am ready. My parents greet me and wish me luck. I honestly thought that they would not allow me to go anymore. And the morning brought yet another obstacle in my path. A try-out for my drawing skills. I had to conceal my bruises. The shoulder, with its big dark mark, was covered by clothes, but my jaw...that required technique. Never in my life have I seen myself searching "how to conceal bruises" on Youtube. There were three dark spots, the tips of his fingers probably, and one long discoloration from his thumb, pressing on my skin. A constant reminder of what I've done with my life.

We have a peaceful flight. After that we go to the hotel and get a little rest. The convention starts at 12, but we are there two hours before, to fix our booth. The excitement already runs through my veins. They reserved a big imposing booth for the four of us, Jeremy, Jim, Tom and myself. Jim and Tom are colleagues of mine, great artists. Their girlfriends are with them too, both sweethearts. With their help we are ready in time. We've hanged pictures of our work on the three enclosing walls. Being the youngest, I have far fewer than them, but Jeremy came up with an idea. Along with pictures of the mighty dragon, my first tattoo, a Celtic tree, an ancient key, a variation of Amerindian symbols and some inspirational writings (all done in the past month), we have put the drawings for which I had won a contest for young artists. Last summer, while I was crying over my lost chance in Tokyo, my mother had presented me with an option. Since she had liked the work I had done at the seaside, she had sent some of the best drawings to the responsible people. They liked them as well, so I found myself nicely dressed, with both my parents, attending a gallery exhibition. I won't lie, when I had seen my work in there, I had started to feel faint. The prize was to come under printed form. All the winners were to have their works published in an art album, to be sold in the entire world. Unfortunately, even if I had won at one of the categories, I have never got to see the album. But for Christmas last year, Jonathan, Eve and I have decided to pair each other to buy the present for the third one. For Jonathan we found some platinum and gold vintage cufflinks, very valuable and absolutely gorgeous, from the Victorian era. Eve received something she couldn't stop talking about, a three months session held by the most important people in the events planning business. Since this has been Eve's dream, we thought the gift would make her happy. Which it did. To the point where we started to hate ourselves because we had to stay strong through endless sessions of "Oh My God! Today I met Mr God knows who, the head of one of the biggest companies in the industry."

For me they bought a set of custom made silver earrings and medallion in the shape of a tinny tattoo machine and an art album. My art album. Which I had never seen before. I knew this had been Jonathan's idea, because he was the only one who knew the story. God, I love that man!

Anyway, after everything is put in order we go change for the show. As I said before, our area is a very visual one, from the tattoos we have, the artwork we do, to the clothes we present ourselves in. For the first day I chose a black lace dress, with long sleeves, long over the knees. The upper part is special because it lets my shoulders bare and partially my back. One of the girls has offered to lift my long hair in a loose bun, which allows me to work free and looks great with the outfit.