Dawn at the fish market

Text 1: Before the Sun, by Owen Brackley

An original short story extract.

Dad and I reached the fish market before the sun did. Our breath hung in front of us in white clouds, and the puddles between the stalls had a skin of ice that cracked under my trainers. Lenny, who ran the end stall, was already shovelling crushed ice over rows of mackerel, their stripes shining under the bare bulbs. He wore fingerless gloves and kept stamping his boots on the concrete. ‘Morning, young man!’ he shouted, rubbing his red hands together. ‘Cod’s good today. Haddock’s better.’ Dad bought two fillets wrapped in newspaper, and Lenny pressed a hot paper cup of tea into my hands without asking for any money. I held it under my chin and let the steam warm my nose while the gulls screamed over the rooftops, waiting for scraps.

Give three words or phrases that show the market is cold early in the morning.