Jasmine

My name is Sahil and I am happily married to my wife, Jasmine. Jasmine is my true love, she is my soulmate. Jasmine and I have been married for 20 years now. She loves me and I love her. People don’t see Jasmine the way that I do. They tell me that she doesn’t exist but I know she does. She is always there beside me.

My parents didn’t approve of the marriage but what can I say? When a man is in love, he’s in love. 

“Jasmine doesn’t exist, go outside and find an actual wife!” Papa yelled at me once. Mama tried to stop him but he hit her with his elbow and her nose started to gush out blood. I helped her that night, took her to the hospital but that was all. I haven't spoken to them since. 

Papa has always been a bad father. He always hit me for no reason, even when I was a kid, especially when I was a kid. He has even broken some of my bones. 

Jasmine knows and respects this. She is the best wife anyone could ask for. I don’t even dare lay a finger on her because she might leave me and I’ll be alone again. 

I was always alone until Jasmine. Jasmine, sweet, beautiful Jasmine who is the reason I’m alive. I might’ve killed myself if it wasn’t for her. Sweet Jasmine. She smells like chocolate covered strawberries and tastes like that too. I love you Jasmine. I will die for you.

Mama didn’t like Jasmine either even though I helped her so much. She never did anything for me. I would be hit by a shoe or a belt. Once I was hit by a glass vase which nearly went into my eye and mama didn’t do anything. If she did, papa would turn his rage on her. 

My village was horrible towards women. They said that men will be men and women would just stick it up. Everything was unfair for women and their children. 

I didn’t want Jasmine to live like that but I didn’t have enough money to move to another village or town or city but I am working on it. I work hard for her. My Jasmine. My precious Jasmine. 

I had some friends in school but only one real friend. He went to a big university after school when I started to settle down and met my Jasmine. 

She has really dark brown hair and beautiful brown eyes which glittered in the sunlight. Her dark brown skin was not like other people and she wore colorful clothes and always smiled. She always had a smile for me. We never fought. No, we were always happy. 

My best friend worked in the big city with big houses and lots of light. With him I never felt alone, until he left me and I found Jasmine.

He came back to the village once and I introduced him to Jasmine. We ordered our food. She told me what to order and I ordered it. My best friend had looked at Jasmine curiously. The food soon came and we all started to eat. 

“Sahil,” my best friend said, “where is your wife?” 

“She’s here,” I had said, gesturing to the seat next to me where Jasmine was sitting in a beautiful red kurta. 

“I can’t see her,” my friend said. 

“Most people can’t see her but she’s real, I can see her!” I insisted. 

“Sahil…” I shook my head. “You are like everyone else,” I muttered, mostly under my breath. I didn’t think he’d heard me. I asked about the city and then it seemed like old times. Jasmine sat there, listening to me and him talk. She was quiet when she first met someone but she gets louder over time, more open. I think that’s one of the reasons I love her. I held her hand underneath the table, squeezing it. 

“Why isn’t your wife eating?” My friend asked me. “She doesn’t eat the full meal, we always get it packed and I end up eating most of it.” I smiled at her. She smiled back. 

“But she hasn’t touched the food, it's the same as it was,” He insisted. I looked at her food. She hadn’t touched it. I looked up at her, my Jasmine, but she was gone. My Jasmine. My love. My soulmate. She was gone. I think it was then I realized that she didn’t exist and it was there, in the restaurant, in front of people who knew me, I broke down into tears. 

My friend got me a therapist and I moved to the city with him. I slowly got better. Sometimes I would see Jasmine next to me or in the highways or in my car but it got rarer and rarer until I stopped seeing her.