| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: he would have taken some step (whatever it was) at once; and the
only step that Gideon could think of was to return to his
chambers.
This being achieved, all further inspiration failed him, and he
stood pitifully staring at the instrument of his confusion. To
touch the keys again was more than he durst venture on; whether
they had maintained their former silence, or responded with the
tones of the last trump, it would have equally dethroned his
resolution. 'It may be a practical jest,' he reflected, 'though
it seems elaborate and costly. And yet what else can it be? It
MUST be a practical jest.' And just then his eye fell upon a
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from When a Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rinehart: Bella knew more about the lower regions of her ex-home than I
would have thought. She opened a door in a corner and led the way
through a narrow hall past the refrigerating room, to a huge,
cemented cellar, with a furnace in the center, and a half-dozen
electric lights making it really brilliant.
"Get a chair," Bella said over her shoulder, excitedly. "I can
get out easily here, through the coal hole. Imagine my--"
But it was my turn to grip Bella. From behind the furnace were
coming the most terrible sounds, rasping noises that fairly
frayed the silk of my nerves. We stood petrified for an instant.
Then Bella laughed. "They are not all gone,:" she said carefully.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Falk by Joseph Conrad: binding us to secrecy. Not that he cared, but he
did not like to be spoken about; and I looked at the
girl's marvellous, at her wonderful, at her regal
hair, plaited tight into that one astonishing and
maidenly tress. Whenever she moved her well-
shaped head it would stir stiffly to and fro on her
back. The thin cotton sleeve fitted the irreproach-
able roundness of her arm like a skin; and her very
dress, stretched on her bust, seemed to palpitate
like a living tissue with the strength of vitality ani-
mating her body. How good her complexion was,
Falk |
