" The morning sun was a grinning, red-toothed warrior, come to slay the night. Bloody and quick, it tore through the night-riding clouds sitting on the purplish, rolling sea and flung a silver-white spear across Melagi, abruptly turning the great volcano that dominated the island from gray shadow to the color of bright jade. The night-wet air convulsed in the sudden heat. Steam boiled from the winding jungle hollows like hot smoke, and the feathery leaves of orchids, sitting in the crooks of giant, sodden trees, shook as if in the hands of malevolent spirits. "

― Homer Hickam , The Ambassador's Son