Jasmin’s Prince

Her name was Jasmin. She was named after her mother’s favourite flower, one symbolising love, beauty and good luck. She had blue eyes and long black silky hair.

When she was young she was thrilled to discover that one of her favourite princesses bore the same name. She believed she was destined for greatness and always strived to achieve it.

But this had the disadvantage that, on this account, nothing (and often no one) was good enough.

So when she met her prince, she stifled him because the reality did not fit the perspective she had imagined. It was the problem of having too many expectations. They caused too great a heartache and too much disappointment when they were not met.

Unlike her gentle and kind character, she began to get angry too often. In her head, it wasn’t this difficult to be with someone, to communicate, to get along. She was enraged that things were not turning out the way she hoped.

And then his behaviour made it all worse. He began to pull away, talking to her less and not spending time together. She despised that he was lying to her. Even for the simplest of things under the pretext of “not wanting to upset her”. It made everything worse. Because she knew what the truth was and how he was lying about it. It made her feel as if he didn’t think she could handle the truth or that he did not trust her. She had always wondered, if people are doing things that they have to lie about, then why do them in the first place?

She was a person of discipline and order, and uncertainty did not fare well with her. So she began to walk away too, giving up trying to reconcile their romance. But in her heart she still hoped he would see clearly and claim her back. He always knew how to do that at first: it only took a flower, a kiss, a kind gesture, and she would melt in his arms. Princes have that ability: to charm you.

A wandering emerald

She had always felt like she belonged nowhere. Like she was an outcast everywhere she went. Her family would move places, towns, countries, even continents, ever so often and she had to learn to re-adjust her life from the start each time. That is what Gypsies do. And Esmeralda was part of that lifestyle.

Everyone wishes their life was different. More magical, more like their dreams. But she had grown up in the hardships of accepting what you have and not hoarding a lot more, so that she could carry them off with her next time they moved. It was their destiny and curse at the same time. A wandering people with no steady home. No roots. No homeland. They saw themselves as true citizens of the world. But others saw them as belonging nowhere.

Making friends was not that easy. People have a lot of prejudices and these are so easily imprinted in children’s minds. Despite her beauty and delicate manners, Esmeralda was often shunned by children her age. They saw her as unworthy, as if they were so much better. As if she was of a lesser god.

By the time she was 15, Esmeralda already knew how to maintain a house on her own. If she would ever have one. She knew how to wash, iron and repair clothes, bags and other useful objects they carried with them. And for her race, she was even old enough to marry. But she wanted more out of life. She wanted to experience the world, free of preconceptions and racism. She was the cleverest in her family, and from the time she learnt to read she devoured books quicker than she could eat a plate of food.

All she wanted was to be acknowledged. And accepted.

She wanted to feel she belonged to this world. To its entirety. Even if she did not know where the future would take her. She simply wanted to be free to make her own choices. Not to live according to the dictations of others.

She watched the sun set behind the hills, lost in her thoughts. She had seen many sunsets in various parts of the world. And deep inside she knew there were more to come.

Her brother Kappi called her for dinner. His name meant ‘good fortune’ and she wished that it would diffuse onto the whole family. As for her, her name meant ‘emerald’, because she was precious and unique. People just had to be open-minded enough to realize it.

 

Also part of Daily Prompt: Name that… You!

Also part of Daily Prompt: On the Road

Also part of Daily Prompt: There’s No Place Like Home