| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Scarecrow of Oz by L. Frank Baum: Bright on their arrival here."
"Is the strange little girl named Trot?" asked Dorothy.
"Yes; and her companion, the old sailor, is named Cap'n
Bill. I think we shall like them very much, for they are
just the kind of people to enjoy and appreciate our
fairyland and I do not see any way, at present, for them
to return again to the outside world."
"Well, there's room enough here for them, I'm sure,"
said Dorothy. "Betsy and I are already eager to welcome
Trot. It will keep us busy for a year, at least, showing
her all the wonderful things in Oz."
The Scarecrow of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: watching her until the canoe passed around the green-bordered bend in the
stream.
Unmistakable signs of an Indian town were now evident. Dozens of graceful
birchen canoes lay upon the well-cleared banks; a log bridge spanned the
stream; above the slight ridge of rising ground could be seen the poles of
Indian teepees.
As the canoe grated upon the sandy beach a little Indian boy, who was playing
in the shallow water, raised his head and smiled.
"That's an Indian boy," whispered Kate.
"The dear little fellow!" exclaimed Nell.
The boy came running up to them, when they were landed, with pleasure and
The Spirit of the Border |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The House of Dust by Conrad Aiken: Beauty! they say, and at the edge of darkness
Extend vain arms in a frozen gesture of protest . . .
A clock ticks softly; a gas-jet steadily whirs:
The pencil meets its shadow upon clear paper,
Voices are raised, a door is slammed. The lovers,
Murmuring in an adjacent room, grow silent,
The eaves make liquid music. . . .Hours have passed,
And nothing changes, and everything is changed.
Exultation is dead, Beauty is harlot,--
And walks the streets. The thing I strongly seized
Has turned to darkness, and darkness rides my heart.
|
