I was living a nightmare every day.

  Every day I woke up scared, not knowing how I would convince my wife I was her husband — and what might happen if she didn't recognise me.

  As my eyes opened, her face was the first thing I saw. She was sitting on me, her hands around my neck, strangling me.

  Her eyes were full of fear. The thought that she might kill me brought a sense of relief.

  And then she stopped.

  Gasping for air, I realised — I realised we couldn't keep living like that.

  The fact that I had felt relieved when my wife was about to kill me made me want to puke.

  “Who are you? And why are you in my bed?” she asked.

  I looked at her. She was standing beside the bed, shaking.

  I prepared myself to repeat the same story I had been telling her for the past ten months.

  And I told her everything.

  Maybe it was the look on my face, but she accepted it and hugged me.

  “I… I don't even know if you're telling the truth,” she said. “But if it is the truth, I can't even imagine what you are going through every day.”

  I didn't say anything.

  I looked at the clock behind her. It was five in the morning — she must have woken up to drink water or something.

  “What's your name, by the way?” she asked, ashamed.

  “It's James. And don't be like that — it's not your fault.”

  “Ok then, listen, James. I have an idea.”

  “Yeah? What is it?”

  “Let's go on a date.”

  That single line brought a spark to my eyes.

  I was beyond happy. Her face brightened after seeing me too.

  Without any delay I shouted, “Yes!”

  “Okay then — let's sleep for now.”

  I felt sad because I wanted to go right then, but I hid it, agreed, and fell asleep.

  Something soft touched my forehead.

  “Wake up, sleepyhead.”

  As my eyes opened I saw her eyes — her beautiful eyes. I drowned in the ocean of them.

  She kissed my forehead again.

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  “I am ready. You should get ready too.”

  As she left the room, I realised I had fallen in love. Again. With the same person. I had thought it was not possible to love her more, but I was wrong.

  “I love you,” the words muttered out of my mouth automatically.

  She looked at me and smiled. “Love you too.”

  If this is a dream, kill me right now. I don't want to return to reality.

  I stood up and got ready.

  “Let's go. We're having breakfast outside,” she said, taking the keys.

  She locked the house and grabbed my hand.

  I was completely flustered. I acted like a teenage boy meeting his girlfriend for the first time.

  Seeing me flustered, she smiled. As we walked to the café she kept teasing me, and I grew even more flustered.

  At breakfast she ate everything as if it were her first time.

  We laughed at the lame jokes she made.

  After breakfast she grabbed my hand and screamed, “Let's go to the amusement park. Please!”

  “Why don't we go there in the evening?” I asked.

  “Okay. So where do we go now?”

  “How about karaoke?”

  She looked at me. “Ah — I'm scared of going to karaoke with a guy alone.”

  “I am sorry, I am sorry. I didn't mean to—”

  She started laughing. “Are you an idiot? I'm your wife.”

  She kept laughing and teasing me until we reached the karaoke.

  We sat on the couch and she started singing.

  Hearing her sing brought tears to my eyes and blood to my ears.

  I still remember the day she sang in front of everyone and Clive started laughing, and she threw the mic at him.

  Maybe I wanted to hear that demonic voice again — that's why I suggested coming here.

  After karaoke we went to lunch. While eating, she talked and talked. I noticed how much she moved her hands when she spoke.

  And then we finished our lunch.

  “So where do you want to go now, Mr. Husband?”

  “How about the arcade?”

  “What??? That's so boring.”

  “Hey, it's not boring.”

  “Why don't we go shopping?”

  “No — you spend hours in a shop and leave without taking anything.”

  “Okay — how about first the arcade, then shopping, and for the cherry on top, the amusement park?”

  And so we did. We went to the arcade and played games.

  Somehow she won every game against me even though she had never played before.

  Is she a genius?

  At first I worried she might not enjoy it, but seeing her smile made me realise I had been worried for nothing.

  Then we went shopping, and what made me sad was that she wanted to gift me an outfit.

  The entire time we shopped, she only looked for clothes for me.

  “Hey, why are we only looking for clothes for me?” I asked.

  “Because I want my husband to wear clothes that I choose for him, even though tomorrow I might not remember I bought them.”

  That made me remember — she will forget it all tomorrow.

  “I want to gift you a dress too.”

  “Okay, let's look for my dresses then,” she said with a smile.

  After a long search she finally found a dress she liked. We bought it.

  In a hurry we went to the amusement park.

  We rode many rides, bought many toys, ate many things, and to end our date we went on the Ferris wheel.

  She was so happy. I couldn't bring myself to stop staring at her.

  “Say, James. Do you love me?”

  “Yes. I love you the most in this world.”

  She leaned toward me and, while fireworks exploded, she kissed me.

  “Then from tomorrow you don't have to take care of me or live with me.”

  “What?”

  “Live your life. Please. The me who loves you can't bear to see you hurting every day. I am scared — what if what happened today happens tomorrow too? What if I actually kill you?”

  “No, that's—”

  “Please. I don't want you to remember me as a nuisance, so let's end it on a happy note.”

  “But—”

  “We both know you were relieved when I tried to kill you. You want to escape this life. Be selfish. Do whatever you want to do. You left your job because of me too. Put yourself in my situation — wouldn't you want me to live a happy life?”

  With tears in my eyes I kept looking at her. She was crying too.

  “And if you are worried about me, don't be. I noticed I haven't forgotten everything. It's just I don't have any memory of anyone.

  I think the reason I have always believed your story is because of the feeling I get when I am with you...

  I think even when I don't know who you are, I still love you.”

  She smiled through her tears as she said it.

  I couldn't bring myself to go against her resolve.

  “And it's not like you can never come to see me. Whenever you miss me, come to me and tell me everything. I will believe you even if you lie.

  So be sure to come to meet me occasionally, okay? And don't forget about me.”

  She started weeping and so did I.

  In a few minutes we reached the bottom.

  She grabbed my hand and we walked silently.

  Finally we sat in a restaurant for dinner.

  She talked again while we ate.

  She is a very strong person and I admire her.

  After we finished dinner she looked at me.

  “Let's go home,” she said with a smile, but I knew she was faking it.

  We walked home and, while we were at the door, I stopped.

  “Actually, can you go first? I still need to think a few things. Sorry.”

  “No, it's fine,” she replied.

  She went inside and I walked to the nearest park and sat on a bench.

  Is this the end for us? She will forget our conversation today. I could agree for now and not do it, but that would disrespect her courage and her feelings.

  She said she wants me to be happy. How can I be happy when she is not by my side?

  She wanted me to be selfish.

  I thought for about an hour and finally came to a conclusion.

  I will be selfish and kill the Sixth Council member. He is the one who gave the curse, so if I kill him, the curse might be lifted.

  Killing him means going against the entire Council.

  This is a suicide mission. Even if I kill all the Council members, the country will fall since we are at war with ALGRAM (a neighbouring country), and they will take advantage of this.

  I had thought about killing him millions of times, but always stopped because of the political impact.

  But I decided I will be selfish and do whatever I want — even if the country falls because of it.

  I went home and saw her sitting at the dining table, crying.

  I walked to her and hugged her from behind tightly.

  “Don't worry. Everything will be alright.”

  And we went to bed.

  “Can you stay until I fall asleep?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  The ticking of the clock echoed in the silence, and

  in that quiet I heard her whispering, “I wish I was not cursed. I want to remember today forever.”

  Hearing her strengthened my resolve and pushed me deeper into the pool of hatred.

  Two hours passed, and before leaving I kissed her forehead.