| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Schoolmistress and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov: is not a seemly one; but I did not say it to judge her, Father
Grigory, I only meant to speak spiritually, . . . that it might
be clearer to you for whom you were praying. They write
in the memorial notes the various callings, such as the infant
John, the drowned woman Pelagea, the warrior Yegor, the murdered
Pavel, and so on. . . . I meant to do the same."
"It was foolish, Andrey! God will forgive you, but beware another
time. Above all, don't be subtle, but think like other people.
Make ten bows and go your way."
"I obey," said the shopkeeper, relieved that the lecture was
over, and allowing his face to resume its expression of
 The Schoolmistress and Other Stories |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft: from a mere study of the omnipresent mural carvings. Our flashlight
photographs of those carvings will do much toward proving the
truth of what we are now disclosing, and it is lamentable that
we had not a larger film supply with us. As it was, we made crude
notebook sketches of certain salient features after all our films
were used up.
The building which we had entered was one of great
size and elaborateness, and gave us an impressive notion of the
architecture of that nameless geologic past. The inner partitions
were less massive than the outer walls, but on the lower levels
were excellently preserved. Labyrinthine complexity, involving
 At the Mountains of Madness |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: wide in astonishment. It never had occurred to the Prince
of Helium that Thuvia of Ptarth might love another.
"But at Kadabra!" he exclaimed. "And later here at
your father's court, what did you do, Thuvia of Ptarth,
that might have warned me that you could not return my love?"
"And what did I do, Carthoris of Helium," she returned,
"that might lead you to believe that I DID return it?"
He paused in thought, and then shook his head.
"Nothing, Thuvia, that is true; yet I could have
sworn you loved me. Indeed, you well knew how
near to worship has been my love for you."
 Thuvia, Maid of Mars |