The market came alive before dawn, its concrete floor still damp from the night's cleaning. I followed the sound of chopping—sharp, rhythmic—to a narrow stall where an elderly woman was quartering limes with a cleaver that looked older than me. She worked without looking, her hands certain in the half-light, while steam rose from the pot beside her.
"You're early," she said in slow English, not a question. I nodded. She ladled something into a bowl, slid it across the counter with a lime wedge balanced on top. The broth was the color of amber, flecked with green herbs I couldn't name. It tasted like rain and earth and something faintly sweet, like the memory of fruit. I finished it standing there, the bowl warm against my palms.
By the time the sun cleared the rooftops, the market had transformed into a maze of color and noise. Vendors called out prices in a language that moved too fast for me to catch. A young man sold fish still twitching in plastic bins. A girl arranged mangoes in perfect pyramids, adjusting them when anyone's shadow fell across her display. I bought a bag of something that looked like lychees but tasted sharper, almost floral.