"You know what I love?" Marshall said. "I love the way at this hour you could be anywhere on earch. Before it wakes, the world is the same everywhere. In Istanbul now you would be hearing the first call to prayer. This rain reminds me of it." He put his hand to his mouth and made a chanting noise. "Allahu Akbar. Ashadu an la ilaba ill Allah. The muezzin." He smiled. "In the minarets."
"I've never been," said Orno. "Have you spent much time there?"
"In a way. A beautiful and mysterious city. I once saw a man there feed a house cat to his snake. Ashadu anna Muhammadur rasul Allah. It means, "God is Great. In practice it means, get out of bed."
Orno laughed. His whole life he would remember this moment: the world opening. "I'm glad to see you wake up at this hour, too," he said. "Where I'm from, everybody does, but around here nobody seems to."
Marshall stared at him. "Oh, you're really not kidding, are you?"
Orno looked back, smiling unsteadily.
"I'm not waking up," said Marshall. "I'm getting home."
--From For Kings and Planets, by Ethan Canin
