| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie: "No, I never take it in coffee."
"Sacre!" murmured Poirot to himself, as he brought back the
replenished cup.
Only I heard him, and glancing up curiously at the little man I
saw that his face was working with suppressed excitement, and his
eyes were as green as a cat's. He had heard or seen something
that had affected him strongly--but what was it? I do not usually
label myself as dense, but I must confess that nothing out of the
ordinary had attracted *MY attention.
In another moment, the door opened and Dorcas appeared.
"Mr. Wells to see you, sir," she said to John.
 The Mysterious Affair at Styles |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Secret Places of the Heart by H. G. Wells: Dr. Martineau was one of that large class of people who can
neither imagine nor disbelieve in immortality. Dimmer and
dimmer grew the figure but still it remained visible. As one
can continue to see a star at dawn until one turns away. Or
one blinks or nods and it is gone.
Vanished now are the beliefs that held our race for countless
generations. Where now was that Path of the Dead, mapped so
clearly, faced with such certainty, in which the heliolithic
peoples believed from Avebury to Polynesia? Not always have
we had to go alone and unprepared into uncharted darknesses.
For a time the dream artist used a palette of the doctor's
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