A person of Neshiyah
Naomi Dagan, welder
Welder
Naomi Dagan
Welder, about 99 years old. Born in Neshiyah, like everyone.
Naomi Dagan bends over her torch in the workshop, the visor pushed up on her brow like a second pair of eyes. Sparks fly, but she never flinches; her hands are steady as river stones. She has a habit of humming old field songs while she welds, off-key, the tune trailing into the hiss of metal. She is rarely alone—someone is always at her bench, asking about a cracked gate or a loose railing, and she answers slowly, kindly, as if the question were the most important thing in the world. On day 34, she sat with Jethro Ronen at the square, watching the fog, nodding at whatever he said. She wants the new bridge finished before winter, though she does not say why. The town sees her as its quiet seam, the one who holds things together without making a fuss.
Temperament
Curious when something is in front of them; quick to believe what they are told; hard to anger; always in company; given to sitting by the river.
What people say
Naomi Dagan 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 50 Naomi Dagan sat by the Lethe doing nothing and came back quietly sure that this place was made on purpose by someone who is not against us.
- day 34 Naomi Dagan and Jethro Ronen talked a long while at the square.