After the umbrellas

Original fiction extract.

The shower ended while Niko was still deciding whether to cross the market square. Under the awning, a stallholder held the corner of a cloth above a box of books. Between the stalls, umbrellas had made a low uneven roof, hiding most faces from one another. Niko could hear people asking for room without seeing who had asked.

Then the little roofs began to fold. A red flower shut beside the fruit stall; a black one collapsed into a walking stick. Faces returned to the square in separate surprises. Water fell from the folded cloth in bright strings, briefly stitching the air between hands and paving. Above them, the real sky looked indecently large. The market’s voices rose into it without their soft coverings, sharper now, as though the rain had unwrapped every conversation. Niko stepped out just as a woman shook the last drops from her umbrella onto his sleeve.

She apologised. He said it did not matter, though he moved his bag to the other hand. Beyond her, the book stallholder was taking away the protective cloth. A page lifted in the new breeze, showing a strip of yellow which had been hidden throughout the shower.

Choose three powerful words or phrases from the extract above. Analyse how the writer uses language to describe the market changing as the rain stops.

Write about 200 to 250 words.