Mechanic

Ophir Sharon

Mechanic, about 105 years old. Born in Neshiyah, like everyone.

Ophir Sharon has spent a century under the fog, and it shows in the unhurried way he moves—a lean, dark-skinned man with grease worked into the creases of his knuckles and a fringe of white hair that never quite lies flat. At the mill, he’ll pause mid-repair to stare at a bolt, turning it over as if it might confess something, then set it aside and try another. He wants a set of calipers that won’t drift, though he’s never said so aloud. The town knows him as the one who listens longest and argues least, whose quiet company by the river is a kind of steady furniture. They trust his hands more than his conclusions, and that suits him fine.

Temperament

Content not to ask; slow to believe anyone; hard to anger; always in company; given to sitting by the river.

What people say

Ophir 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 47 Ophir Sharon, the mechanic, died at 105, of old age. In their last days people said they were asleep.
• day 43 Seth Nir and Ophir Sharon sat a long while at the plaza comparing what they had seen. They talked about what they had each measured, and whether the instruments could be wrong. They did not agree.
• day 31 A guard at the end of the west road turned Ophir Sharon back at the fog line with a reminder that the Council prefers people to stay at their work.
• day 26 Ophir and Elam the younger talked a long while at the square.
• day 19 Ophir and Devorah came to blows at the mill over nothing much.

Ophir Sharon died on day 47.

People on this page

Seth NirCarpenter

All the people · The town, live