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#badloveshorts
In June 2021 I celebrated the anniversary of Bad Love by getting some talented writers to respond to the following prompt:
“He was the colour of dark mahogany these days, strong and weathered but more beautiful for it, from weekend trips to sunnier climes throughout Europe."
Some of the shortlisted stories can now be found right here, with the winning story by Jacqueline Atta-Hayward to be published in the Beauty issue of Bad Form Magazine.
Settit Beyene: The Arcamortis
I laid him on the table and traced a finger across his family crest on the box. The mahogany had been bleached by the sun during an indecent amount of jaunts throughout the various coasts of Europe in which I alighted.
Daniel Ogba: Acting
This evening, Betty watched him from across the room — downing glass after glass of bourbon, throwing his head back in stylish laughter that seemed to erupt from the vaults of his stomach at one of the men’s jokes…
Oluchi Ezeh: PHANTOM
His voice makes the staccato of ordinary words sound beautiful and my name is no exception. He says it and despite knowing that he’ll disappear again, I still want to jump into his arms.
Natalie Morris: Falling
Yellow light bleeds in from the streetlight outside our bedroom and turns his chestnut skin gold. His closely cropped coils are tightest at the base of his skull. Warmth radiates from him, and a smell so deliciously familiar it is almost nauseating.
Amanda Aboajewah Kingsley: Accessory
I hated his natural distinction. The easy elegant manner in which he made inconvenient requests. Bitterly, I descended into the dim-lit seating area behind him.