There were irregularly distributed and mostly small dark patches that stood out, small flat shadows, bits of shadows, that drew together as one approached and then shrank or broke up into discrete black splinters and vanished in the matte gray light that had spread out over the surface of the street. Larger areas sometimes appeared, black, hand size, recessed or angular at the edges, jagged and sharp, troughs and holes that fell away as one looked and that were followed by new, differently shaped patches. Farther ahead they flowed into one another, blurring into one dull black area resembling a ...