| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from To-morrow by Joseph Conrad: clouds died out in the west. Again he stooped
slightly to hear better; and the deep night buried
everything of the whispering woman and the
attentive man, except the familiar contiguity of
their faces, with its air of secrecy and caress.
He squared his shoulders; the broad-brimmed
shadow of a hat sat cavalierly on his head. "Awk-
ward this, eh?" he appealed to her. "To-morrow?
Well, well! Never heard tell of anything like this.
It's all to-morrow, then, without any sort of to-day,
as far as I can see."
 To-morrow |
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: youngster so sudden. Mebbe it's because I'm fond of his sunny-haired lass, an'
ag'in mebbe it's because I'm gettin' old an' likes young folks better'n I onct
did. Anyway, I'm kinder thinkin, if this young feller gits worked out, say fer
about twenty pounds less, he'll lick a whole raft-load of wild-cats."
Joe walked to and fro on the logs, ascertained how the raft was put together,
and took a pull on the long, clumsy steering-oar. At length he seated himself
beside Lynn. He was eager to ask questions; to know about the rafts, the
river, the forest, the Indians--everything in connection with this wild life;
but already he had learned that questioning these frontiersmen is a sure means
of closing their lips.
"Ever handle the long rifle?" asked Lynn, after a silence.
 The Spirit of the Border |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: but flight. Some betook themselves one way, some another; some
sought sanctuary here, some there; but one and another, they were
all of them caught and killed.
The Earl of Kent--one time Duke of Surrey-- and the Earl of
Salisbury were beheaded in the market-place at Cirencester; Lord
Le Despencer --once the Earl of Gloucester--and Lord Lumley met
the same fate at Bristol; the Earl of Huntingdon was taken in the
Essex fens, carried to the castle of the Duke of Gloucester, whom
he had betrayed to his death in King Richard's time, and was
there killed by the castle people. Those few who found friends
faithful and bold enough to afford them shelter, dragged those
 Men of Iron |