Question

Which details in these lines contribute to the underlying tension of the scene as Salak prepares to depart?

Hobbled donkeys cower under a new onslaught of rain, ears
back, necks craned. Little children dare each other to touch me, and
I make it easy for them, stopping and holding out my arm. They
stroke my white skin as if it were velvet, using only the pads of their
fingers, then stare at their hands to check for wet paint.
Thunder again. More rain falls. I stop on the shore, near a
centuries-old kapok tree under which I imagine Park once took
shade. I open my bag, spread out my little red kayak, and start to
pump it up. ​

Answer 1

"I open my bag, spread out my little red kayak, and start to pump it up"

The last line indicated excercebates to the underlying tension in the scene.

Salak had purposed in her mind to journey down the Timbuktu river in Africa.

Prior to this scene, she had been advised severally by her guide who even at this point (which is at the edge of the river) says he is unable to proceed any further. According to the narratives, no man had ever completed neither had any woman.

The odds were not in her favour at all.

The more the guide tries to dissuade her, the more her will crystallizes towards the decision to do so.

Finally, in the scene above, she starts to pump the Kayak (a light frame watertight canoe) in readiness to commence the journey amidst degenerating weather conditions.

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