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

Question

 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

Hi, underlying tension is portrayed through use of word play: Essentially, hobbled donkeys (already slow beasts-of-burden) are being drenched in the heavy rain (which portends problems with the narrator using a kayak on the water); the narrator is so wet and bedraggled-looking, allowing the children to touch him timidly while succumbing to a group 'dare'; and this man is 'slick' with rain and children must use pads of hands, not fingers, to touch him (slick paint reference). How can he possibly survive the water trip in a kayak? He is more determined and hard-headed than intuitive and self-preserving.

Answer 2

The first sentence enacts bodily tension with the image of "hobbled donkeys" which 'cower' and 'crane' as if their whole bodies are waiting in fear for this rain. The children are also fearful of this character, 'daring' each other, and checking for wet paint (insinuating that they are unfamiliar with the character's skin tone). This is interrupted by two quick immediate sentences with only one clause.