Honest to God, she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. And believe me, I've seen a lot of beautiful girls. Even the very moment I laid eyes on her, I was entranced. I consider my self a pretty relaxed guy; it takes more than just some girl to get me going. But as she introduced herself, I could feel the pace of my heart quicken.

“Eden Amhearst.” She said. The name sailed out of her mouth and sounded like silk brushing up against my cheek. It made my skin tingle, the hairs on the back of my neck raise to hear this angelic voice of hers. Eden. I remember thinking that the name was so fitting, that this girl would be my paradise.

It didn't take me very long to realize that I had to have her. We would talk occasionally, but she never left my mind. She was invading my brain. The only way to quell it was to make her mine. So I asked her out on a first date.

It wasn't much of a first date, though. Thinking back, I'm not even sure how we got to a second one. I didn't really make a wonderful impression. I must have seemed like an idiot, because all I could do was stare at her. Could you really blame me, though? I mean, if you saw her- even just a glimpse- you'd understand what I mean. She was almost too pretty to be real. It was like she was this porcelain doll that had suddenly been zapped and brought to life.

All I did was stare. For our entire date, I stared. I added a few words here and there, but nothing substantial. I just watched her, almost dumbfounded, from across the white linen sea of our table. She was breathtaking. She had long, pitch black hair that caught the light when she moved. It looked so soft, making me want to just reach out and touch it... but I restrained myself. I didn't ant to scare away this beautiful girl on our first date, now did I? Instead, I got lost in her eyes- which really wasn't a very hard task. Looking into Eden's eyes was like delving into an uncharted world, her eyes were blue and expansive- like the sky or the sea- and you drowned in them. This girl was flawless. Even as she spoke- in retrospect, I really should have been listening- I watched her pink lips open and close in succession. It was more than I could handle. I still can't handle her. I never could.

“It's raining.” Eden commented. She paused, to listen to the pitter-patter of the rain over the buzz of chatter created by the restaurant's patrons. “Do you like the rain?”

I shook my head absentmindedly. The rain conjured up images of ruined baseball games and flooded basements, things that were a little less than pleasant.

“Oh.” She replied softly, almost a bit disappointed. The rest of her words were dreamy, almost as if she were thinking aloud. “I love the rain. It washes away everything.”

Although I thought our first date was a disaster, we ended up on a second one. And a third. And a fourth. And before I knew it, we had been dating for over a year. Eden took away all desires to be with anyone else- she completely mesmerized me. Although my family liked her, they were a bit skeptical about how serious I was so quickly. I wasn't normal for a twenty year old guy to find a woman he wanted to settle down with. We're too immature for that. Though I won't completely dispel the immaturity rumor, I knew exactly what I wanted in a girl. And I found it all in Eden.

We were walking in the park one day, together. This was something we did rather often; Eden had given me a newfound appreciation for nature and life in general that I had lost in the monotony of routine. She would point out a flower that had been a bud just the day before, or a baby taking its unsteady first steps towards its mother. She made me pause, made me think. She made me appreciate the lesser-known beauties of life.

It was as we were walking down the path that I heard a crack of thunder. I glanced up at the sky, which was a big, dark gray mess.

“Eden-” I said. God, I never got tired of saying her name. “I think it's going to rain.”

She didn't respond. I got used to silence as a response from her. Eden was a thinker. She always thought before she spoke, which made her seem like she was rather slow. But Eden never said anything she didn't mean- even in anger. She always knew exactly what she wanted to say, and even if it took her ten minutes, she would figure out exactly the right way to say it.

I felt a rain drop hit my nose. I turned to Eden and grabbed her hand, attempting to lead her away from the impending storm. She didn't move.

“Come, on, it's going to rain...” I tugged at her hand again, but she wouldn't budge. Instead a smile began to emerge from her lips. It didn't stop until it devoured her, resulting in a gigantic, almost child-like grin. I paused, clearly confused. Why on earth was she smiling in the middle of a storm? Suddenly, she let go of my hand, took off her shoes and ran down the pathway, laughing joyfully. She danced around, spinning and twirling with her arms raised high in the air. After awhile, she turned around again. She was soaking wet, her hair was a mess and she was wearing a silly grin. She was beautiful. She gave a loud sigh. It wasn't a sad sigh; it was happiness. It was the highest happiness one could ever achieve- the pinnacle of elation, of joy, of euphoria. It was truly a sight to see. It looked as if there was nothing that could ever harm her, like every bad thought had been permanently erased from her mind.

“I love the rain.” She said, closing her eyes. Her smile was still as wide as ever. “It washes away everything.”

Eden was definitely different from any other girl I've ever dated. She was unconventional, preferring to take the difficult way of doing everything if it meant learning something new. Everything that came out of Eden's mouth was profound, like she was the pope of a religion and I was a devoted follower. She taught me things I'd never seen before and made me feel alive. After that day in the park, I realized that I was completely and irrevocably in love with this girl.

A year turned into two years, then into three and eventually I asked her to move in with me. Most women give a sure-fire yes or no answer. Eden didn't speak to me for two whole days. But on the second evening, she knocked at my door and told me she agreed. She moved into my apartment the next week. It was a nice place. The one thing I was especially proud of was its view. Eden was enamored by the view from my window. She could sit there for hours, her eyes looking far beyond the confines of Suburbia.

I loved living with Eden. She didn't have an outside job- she was a writer- and as a result was home most of the time. I loved knowing that I was going home to a beautiful, wonderful girl. In many ways, I was always the more affectionate one, I would be the one to initiate an embrace or a kiss. But Eden always managed to show that she cared. Her specialty was post-it notes. She'd leave them on a whim, anywhere that she knew I'd look. I woke up one morning to a post-it on the bathroom mirror that said, “Don't worry, you look great.” I remember leaving it there while I shaved, smiling all the while.

I was an business man. This, as you all may already know, results in very long hours at the office. On really late nights, I would come home to find Eden fast asleep in our bed. On those nights, I would get changed, kiss her on her perfect forehead, and slip into bed with the love of my life. But on occasion, when it rained, I would wake up to find that Eden wasn't in bed. She never slept when it rained. I would find her taking her seat by the window, watching the raindrops as they fell. I would try to coax her back into bed, but she would tell me that she had to stay awake. One particular not, I asked her why. There was a long silence before she replied,

“I have to watch the rain because...” She turned back to the window, as if speaking to the rain itself. There was a trace of sadness in her sapphire eyes and in her words. “Because the rain washes away everything...”

I never really understood what she meant by that statement. It's still rather confusing to me now, although the impending events shouldn't have been. I remember one day, one of Eden's friends came over to visit her. Eden had been getting sick a lot recently, and had been in and out of bed for weeks in a row. As Eden's friend left, she turned to me.

“It's a shame, what you're doing here.” I looked back at her, puzzled.

“What are you talking about?” I asked. I gave Eden everything she needed. I loved her and I wanted nothing more than for her to be happy and healthy.

“A caged bird stands on the grave of dreams, his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream.” She said wisely. Then she walked away.

“What the hell-?” I began to ask, but she walked away. I was about to go after her, but I heard Eden call and I paused. I shut the door and turned around to tend to my fallen angel.

Eden didn't get much better. I started working less so that I could be home with her more. I didn't want anything to happen to her, so she had to be under my supervision as often as possible. One day, I awoke at three am to the pitter-patter of the rain on the roof. I opened my eyes, not at all surprised to see the space by my bedside empty. After all, Eden could never sleep when it rained. I exited my bedroom groggily, expecting to see Eden at her seat by the window. She wasn't there. I paused for a second, awaking quickly from my sleepy stupor. I checked the bathroom. She wasn't there, either. I was beginning to panic. I checked the entire apartment, a horrible feeling growing in my stomach. As I searched, I noticed that her things were missing. Had we been robbed? Surely I would have heard a ruckus. What was going on? I had to call the police or something As I reached to grab my phone, I glanced at the door, which had a post-it stuck to it. I dropped my phone and ran closer, to inspect it.

It read, “The rain washes away everything.”

I never saw Eden again.