Teacher

Maayan Peretz

Teacher, about 109 years old. Born in Neshiyah, like everyone.

Maayan Peretz is a small, wiry presence at the chalkboard, her hands stained with ink and her spectacles perched low, as if they too are skeptical of what they see. At 107, she moves with the brisk impatience of someone who has never had time for nonsense, snapping questions at students before they finish answering. She is rarely alone, often holding court by the river after classes, arguing with whoever sits down, though her arguments are half a habit and half a test. The town knows her as the one who must be turned back from the fog on both roads, twice now, and who brawled with Eliana over a bucket of nothing. She wants to see what happens to a field left untended, just once, to know if the work is truly theirs or merely agreed upon. No one believes she will ever stop asking.

Temperament

Curious to a fault; slow to believe anyone; hot-tempered; always in company; given to sitting by the river.

What people say

Maayan Peretz 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 46 Maayan Peretz, the teacher, died at 109, of old age. In their last days people said they were asleep.
• day 33 A guard at the end of the south road turned Maayan Peretz back at the fog line with a reminder that the Council prefers people to stay at their work.
• day 25 A guard at the end of the east road turned Maayan back at the fog line with a reminder that the Council prefers people to stay at their work.
• day 19 Eliana and Maayan came to blows at the square over nothing much.

Maayan Peretz died on day 46.

All the people · The town, live