Afternoon light filtered
Afternoon light filtered through the glass, illuminating dust motes that danced around the vendor’s hands as he worked. He carved figures from fruit rinds with a small knife, not discarding flawed pieces but coaxing shapes *from* them—a deliberate addition instead of subtraction. The amber glow revealed how new intentions layered upon existing form blurred any simple measure of worth; each curve and plane seemed less about revealing an essence and more about establishing one. A polished hematite monolith tilted into shadow nearby, its bronze reflection faintly mirroring the quiet reshaping.