The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Miracle Mongers and Their Methods by Harry Houdini: showing that he can secure the body
against the action of flames so as to enable
firemen to carry on their operations with
safety. His experiment is stated to have
given satisfaction. The pompiers were
clothed in asbestos, over which was a network
of iron. Some of them, it was stated,
who wore double gloves of amianthus, held
a red-hot bar during four minutes.
Sir David Brewster, in his Letters on
Natural Magic, page 305, gives a more detailed
 Miracle Mongers and Their Methods |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Tales of Unrest by Joseph Conrad: at them sideways, finished his mouthful there, went back heavily, and
sat down before his plate. When his wife returned he never looked up,
but swallowed a couple of spoonfuls noisily, and remarked, in a dull
manner--
"When they sleep they are like other people's children."
She sat down suddenly on a stool near by, and shook with a silent
tempest of sobs, unable to speak. He finished his meal, and remained
idly thrown back in his chair, his eyes lost amongst the black rafters
of the ceiling. Before him the tallow candle flared red and straight,
sending up a slender thread of smoke. The light lay on the rough,
sunburnt skin of his throat; the sunk cheeks were like patches of
 Tales of Unrest |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: The fierce resentment born of dreadful wrongs was consuming her now;
but fear of Fu-Manchu held her yet. Inspector Weymouth came down the stairs
and joined us.
"I have sent the boy to Ryman's room at the station," he said.
"The divisional surgeon will look after him until you arrive,
Dr. Petrie. All is ready now. The launch is just off
the wharf and every side of the place under observation.
Where's our man?"
He drew a pair of handcuffs from his pocket and raised
his eyebrows interrogatively. The absence of sound--
of any demonstration from the uncanny Chinaman whom he was there
 The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu |