A person of Neshiyah
Boaz Kfir, child
Child
Boaz Kfir
Child, about 7 years old. This is the second life this soul has lived in Neshiyah.
Boaz Kfir is a small, quick boy with dirt ground into the creases of his knuckles and a way of standing that suggests he has somewhere else to be. He works the Kfir plot beside the north ditch, pulling thistle without being asked, but his eyes never settle on the rows—they track the fog line, or the birds, or the space where a fence post used to be. He does not ask questions, and he does not believe answers. The town has learned to let him be. At seven, he wants a knife of his own, though he has not told anyone. He hums while he works, always the same three notes, as if finishing a sentence no one else can hear.
Who Boaz is
Boaz Kfir, a five-year-old child in Neshiyah, known for being quiet and content, the youngest son of Adah Kfir.
“I am Boaz. I am five. I like to watch the fog because it moves, but my mother says it is just fog. Sometimes I wake up and say 'the fog is just fog,' but I don't know why. I think it is just fog, but I also wonder if there is something behind it, but I don't tell anyone.”
Boaz, in their own words
Raised and taught
Raised in a home that keeps to the rules and discourages questions about the fog. Too young for formal schooling; learns by watching others, especially his grandmother Liesl Kfir at her repair shop.
Their life so far
Born to Adah Kfir about five years ago. From birth, he has repeated a strange sentence in his sleep: 'the fog is just fog.' He has always been even-tempered and friendly, but not inclined to ask questions. He spends his days playing near the wall, watching the fog, and occasionally helping his grandmother with small tasks.
Wants
To find a shiny stone to show his mother.
Fears
That the fog might not be just fog.
Why Boaz acts this way
He acts content because his mother and grandmother have always told him that everything is ordinary, and he trusts them. He stays still and watchful because he is naturally not restless for answers, but the dream sentence nags at him like a splinter.
Keeps to themselves
He has started to wonder if the fog is hiding something, even though he tells himself it's just fog.
How close Boaz is to the truth: Asleep
He repeats the dream sentence without questioning it, and believes his mother's explanation that it is just something he says, with no evidence of doubt.
What Boaz believes now: He believes the fog is just fog, as his dream says, and that the strange words he says are just something he made up.
Temperament
Content not to ask; slow to believe anyone; even-tempered; friendly enough; never still.
What people say
Boaz Kfir 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 53 Adah Kfir says that their new son, Boaz Kfir, wakes from sleep repeating words no one taught: "the fog is just fog."
- day 53 A son, Boaz Kfir, was born to Adah Kfir.
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