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A fine drizzle of the evening's light shower hastened its way down the leaves of several native plants, the dew drops gently plopping onto the ground once at the end of their journey.

Palm trees danced to an ancient rhythm as the pit-pat of a leaky reed bucket at the end of a shadouf slowly dripped water into its well. Coconuts, perched largely on their perspective branches, weighed down the trees as they reached forth towards the heavens.

In some places, the moonlight was obscured by the leaves above, leaving just a glimmer of cyan beams lighting the way for the creatures living in this oasis.

An ibis lay in full view as it flew down from its nest among the land of stars and made its descent towards the crickets singing underneath. Upon landing, the ibis slowly lifted its foot from the reeds as some figs dropped with a thump to the moist ground, leaving a muddy footprint in their wake.

In these Gardens of Amun, green foliage stretched out as far as the eye could see, plentiful fishes swimming in the pools leapt to great heights only to dive into the waters down below.

At nighttime the usual sight of hundreds of opened flowers was limited to a few of the exotic and bizarre plants that bloomed most vibrantly under the night sky.

Encompassing the garden, what originally started as a fresh, fragrant cacophony of smells mixed together into a heavy, fragrant odor that was especially pungent now after it rained. 

Only the gentle swaying of the willow trees served as a reminder that time was passing by in that place frozen in time.

Down by the bank of one of the garden ponds, a young lady in a long fitted linen sheath dress squatted in search of an Egyptian blue lotus. These flowers that grew in the Temple of Amun-Re at Karnak were primarily used for religious ceremony, but also served as ornamental decoration. However, that was not stopping her from admiring the light blue petals from a distance and then snagging the seeds to bring back to the Kushite palace gardens.

Indeed, there lay a lush forest of sycamore, willow, fig, acacia and palm trees before her and she cared very little for it at the present moment. Even the occasional cry of baboons coming from quite a distance away could not deter the beauty from her task.

  A sudden rustle came from behind a pomegranate tree which made the Nubian damsel stop in her tracks and look up in apt concern.

Could it be one of the gardeners picking the medicinal fruit late at night?

"Admiring the moon, sir?", she asked to the unknown person.

The stranger replied, "I would if I could, I imagine it is probably beautiful at this stage of the month."

Arching her eyebrows, she approached the strange male and observed a misty substance covering part of his eyes.

She inquired, "Can you see me?", simultaneously slowly backing up from the shore whilst recalling a drawing she had seen that detailed not only the botanical garden she was currently in, but also the other twenty-six kitchen gardens part of the Temple of Amun.

Quick exits could only be achieved with a steel determination.

At least that is what her experience had taught her so far.

After all, an invitation to the temple gardens was hardly common-place for an enemy of Egypt.

"Can anyone see clearly in this world?", he replied back.

"Good point," she answered with a subtle grin. Appearing to lower her guard, she forced herself to relax and grabbed a dried date from the basket she had brought into this place to bit into.

Better to look helpless than risk an unnecessary strike from a foe.

"What brings you this gardens? Inspiration perhaps?", the blind man asked.

She looked carefully at him before responding, "Maybe. Is that the case for you?"

"I had heard this temple is the best place to come worship our god Amun-Re."

"What a devoted follower," she mockingly stated before adding, "But I bet there are better places to pray to at night than the temple gardens."

He smirked, "The same could be said of you."

"What makes you think nature isn't the optimal place to give thanks to creation and praise the gods' works?"

"Maybe during the day, but under Nut's sky and Khonsu's moon, it is a bit...strange to extol Amun-Re's name," he answered.

"Then what is your true purpose in coming here?", she postulated, genuinely curious at what this blind man had to say.

"I am a sculptor by trade. However, it is such a headache coming to admire both your own work and the fruit of other's labor in the day amidst those crowds."

Snorting, she sarcastically chided, "What a poor fool that hired a blind man to finish the work."

Chuckling, he took some mud rolled up into a ball into his hand, closed the remaining distance and pressed it against hers.

"Ew!", she muttered, before recollecting the fact that a handsome specimen of a man was before her.

"Whatsoever was that for?", she asked, putting her hand to her lips and giggling when putting her flirty facade on again.

"You could be considered cute where you not playing at being a seductive temptress," the now non-stud divulged before seemingly licking something from out the side of his teeth and swallowing.

"Who is pretending...never mind. You would have to be blind not to see it," she taunted.

"What a sense of humor, princess," he responded back.

"I am not a princess!", she yelled back. Covering her mouth after her outburst, she moaned at her incompetence and strived to henceforth no longer make her presence audible to the rest of the sleeping residents in Thebes.

"With the casual way your feet stroll among the gardens, your demeanor screams that you are confident in your station. Jangles coming from the beads of your dress confirm that you are surely of noble birth," he stated.

Mockingly bowing, he added, "Naggar at your service, milady."

Clicking her tongue, she turned around and confessed, "Should we meet again, then I shall give you my name."

"Mysterious, I see," he remarked.

"Always," she quipped before heading off.

The crunch of wet leaves under her bare feet made her squirm slightly, but she quickly recollected her composure when she realized a few sycamore leaves were nothing compared to the experience of rotting bones on a battlefield.

 Not something the likes of a blind sculptor would ever encounter during his lifetime.

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Author's note: Quick history lesson before we go.

Temple of Amun at Karnak: one of the biggest temples at the Temple at Karnak (huge complex) in Thebes, Egypt, non-nobles/royals not normally allowed in

Shadouf: Counterpoint lift/well pole/well sweep -Ancient tool used to irrigate land (still used to this day)

Amun-Re: Amun-Ra-Egyptian God Of the Sun, and Chief Deity of the Gods of Egyptian Myth, rides a boat through the underworld at night to prepare for rebirth in the morning

Pomegranates: introduced to Egyptian gardens during this dynasty, used as a medicinal fruit to cure tapeworms, considered exotic at this time