A person of Neshiyah
Benaiah Segal, baker
Baker
Benaiah Segal
Baker, about 25 years old. This is the second life this soul has lived in Neshiyah.
Benaiah Segal is hardly ever alone, and when the mill lets out, they sit on the riverbank with whoever will stay, tossing pebbles and talking. They work the bakery ovens with a quick, impatient rhythm, sleeves rolled, flour dusted on their forearms, and they hum while they knead—a habit that stops only when someone speaks, because they want to hear everything, even the parts that are not meant for them. Their temper flares like a struck match over a burnt loaf or a slow customer, but it burns out just as fast. The town sees them as a good-natured nuisance, a boy who asks too many questions and means no harm. Still, when they sleep, they repeat the same soft sentence, like a prayer they cannot explain: *the fog is just fog.*
Temperament
Curious to a fault; trusting, within reason; hot-tempered; always in company; given to sitting by the river.
What people say
Benaiah Segal believes what everyone believes: the fog is the edge of the world, and the fields need working whether it is true or not.
The dream
Since the morning they were born they have carried a sentence in a voice like their own: “the fog is just fog.”
What the record shows
- day 51 Benaiah Segal says that their new son, Uriel Segal, wakes from sleep repeating words no one taught: "the fog is just fog."
- day 51 A son, Uriel Segal, was born to Benaiah Segal.
- day 51 Ophir Segal and Benaiah Segal came to blows at the mill over nothing much.
- day 34 Lemuel Eshel and Benaiah Segal talked a long while at the mill.
- day 27 Benaiah was born and dreamed a sentence in a voice like their own: "the fog is just fog."