Dawn did not break slowly, as it does on land. The sky turned pale, the first stars disappeared, and I went on looking, first at my watch, and then at the horizon. The contours of the sea began to appear. Twelve hours had passed, but it didn’t seem possible. Night couldn’t be as long as day. You ought to have spent the night at sea, sitting in a life raft and looking at your watch, to know that the night is immeasurably longer than the day. But soon dawn begins to break, and then it’s wearying to know it’s another day.
from The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor by Gabriel Garcia Marquez