“I had henna done once at a street fair outside the bookstore where I worked in high school," Zoey said. "Vines, all down my fingers, like that. Only not as pretty as yours."
"Vines symbolize perseverance," Charlotte said. "Flowers mean joy. The sun represents eternal love. And the moon, here, is the power of change." She pointed to her knee. "Birds are supposed to be messengers between heaven and earth." She indicated a peacock on the other knee. Birds had always been her favorite to draw. Then she touched a circle on her leg at the hem of her cutoffs. "This is a mandala. It represents the universe."
Zoey looked impressed. "I had no idea it all meant something."
Charlotte put her hands back in her pockets. "In all my years, I've never encountered something that doesn't mean anything.”
―
Sarah Addison Allen,
Other Birds: A Novel