Yesteryear

The Hanging Gardens

Wooyoung spent his morning searching for the kitchens. He had forgotten the Akkadian word for them and didn't want to embarrass himself by trying to explain with his body. Thus, he simply utilised his lack of a goal to wander the vaulted corridors and halted at some windows to enjoy the view. As always on this part of the earth, the weather was clear and warm. The sun's sweltering heat was bearable in the palace, that stored the night's coldness.

During his meandering, Wooyoung observed a procession in the field surrounding the palace. A long row of people with a gigantic umbrella made of palm leaves to protect the person in their midst from the sun migrated from the palace entrance down to the part of the river that flowed along the palace area. Judging by the deep bows the surrounding people dedicated to the colourful delegation, Wooyoung assumed King Nebuchadnezzar II was among them. He burnt with curiosity what the king was like as a person and if his success in Neo-Babylon had got to his head. History classes liked to leave out the less pretty facts, so Wooyoung was always intrigued to learn more.

He watched the group disappear around the corner of the gate leading down to the river before he picked up his walk again. After long hours of ghosting through the palace and lowering his eyes whenever he passed someone, his hungry stomach picked up on the scent of food wafting from somewhere. When he followed its angry grumbles, he soon found the kitchen. The kind cooks provided him with food after he had explained his situation. With two bowls in his hands, Wooyoung got sent off to eat.

Since he didn't want to be in the way, Wooyoung returned to his chambers to dine. There wasn't much to do in the palace during the day since he was nervous to get picked out as a stranger. He would have to reschedule his visit to the Hanging Gardens to the night; when he could be sure he was alone and not bothering anyone.

With nothing to read, Wooyoung spent his day sitting at the window with the sun in his face and watching over the miracle that Babylon was. He rarely got time to just savour the weather back in his time period. Work and his hobby of studying about work kept him busy. In the hours he could unwind in the ancient metropolis, his mind cleared of his stress. Despite the excitement and the rushing he experienced here, his visit was a holiday for him. How many people could say that they casually spent an afternoon gazing upon the Tower of Babel and the processions of people travelling up and down from it? Wooyoung would boast about that until the end of his days.

When the sun disappeared from his window to bless Babylon with its last productive rays, Wooyoung said bye to the cosy spot near the window. Warmed and full of energy, he muttered a goodbye to Berosus' hut he had observed every so often and bounced back to his feet.

It was dinnertime in the palace. Wooyoung was shy to go out just yet, afraid to get roped into a royal party that would end in an orgy. He waited patiently until fewer feet scurried over the tiled ground outside and he believed everyone to be busy eating. Once the palace's residents had finished their nightly activities and rolled into their beds, nobody would bother Wooyoung outside.

With his sandals crunching on the few sand grains in the corridors, Wooyoung snuck through the empty palace. He had seen a person cleaning the halls with a broom earlier, but the sand had come back in carried by the wind. Deserts would never bend to humans' will, not even 2500 years in the future. Wooyoung would have adored letting the Babylonians know.

Again, it took him a while to figure out the right paths to get to the gardens. After watching them come closer and disappear from the windows for a few exasperating minutes, he finally found the right set of stairs. Two guards stood at their bottom. They flanked the mighty staircase that was the only object in the entire tall room. Far up on the wall, an exit led outside to show the starry night.

Wooyoung walked past the guards as if he belonged there and they let him pass. With an inward sigh of relief, he dipped outside into the mild air of the evening.