| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Mucker by Edgar Rice Burroughs: The soldier shuffled away to where a little circle of men in
wide-brimmed, metal-encrusted hats squatted in the shade of a
tree, chatting, laughing, and rolling cigarettes. He saluted one
of these and delivered his message, whereupon the tall, gaunt
Captain Rozales arose and came over to Pesita.
"The big one who was brought in today is not a gringo,"
said Pesita, by way of opening the conversation. "He is from
Granavenoo. He can be of great service to us, for he is very
friendly with the Germans--yet be looks like a gringo and
could pass for one. We can utilize him. Also he is very large
and appears to be equally strong. He should make a good
 The Mucker |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas: the savage yells of malignant exultation.
The young man -- a thing which would have been thought
impossible -- grew even paler than before, and his eyes were
for a moment veiled behind the lids.
The officer saw this sign of compassion, and, wishing to
avail himself of this softened tone of his feelings,
continued, --
"Come, come, Monseigneur, for here they are also going to
murder the Grand Pensionary."
But the young man had already opened his eyes again.
"To be sure," he said. "These people are really implacable.
 The Black Tulip |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Voice of the City by O. Henry: "One whom she loved with all her soul has gone --
you may have beard of him -- he is Monsieur Ives.
He sails across the ocean to-morrow. Oh, you men!"
SQUARING THE CIRCLE
At the hazard of wearying you this tale of vehe-
ment emotions must be prefaced by a discourse on
geometry.
Nature moves in circles; Art in straight lines.
The natural is rounded; the artificial is made up
of angles. A man lost in the snow wanders, in spite
of himself, in perfect circles; the city man's feet,
 The Voice of the City |