A person of Neshiyah
Elam Sharon, teacher
Teacher
Elam Sharon
Teacher, about 96 years old. Born in Neshiyah, like everyone.
Elam Sharon taught arithmetic for fifty years, and still stands at the blackboard most mornings, though the chalk is gone and the room is empty. Their hands move in the same precise arcs, drawing sums in the air for no one. They sleep in the schoolhouse, in a narrow cot by the stove, and wake before the roosters. Their one habit is to polish the brass bell at the back door until it shines, though it has not rung since the fog closed in. The town sees them as a fixture, like the courthouse steps. They want nothing but the fields to be turned, and they sit on the porch in the evening, watching the young men fail at it, never offering advice. On day 35, they died in their sleep, and no one could say when the waking stopped and the resting began.
Temperament
Content not to ask; quick to believe what they are told; even-tempered; always in company; able to sit still when it matters.
What people say
Elam Sharon believes what everyone believes: the fog is the edge of the world, and the fields need working whether it is true or not.
What the record shows
- day 35 Elam Sharon, the teacher, died at 96, of old age. In their last days people said they were asleep.
Elam Sharon died on day 35.