| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The New Machiavelli by H. G. Wells: swords were broken, sweeping the splendid curves of the Imperial
Road into heaps of ruins, casting the jungle growth of Zululand into
the fire.
Well, Master Dick," the voice of this cosmic calamity would say,
"you ought to have put them away last night. No! I can't wait until
you've sailed them all away in ships. I got my work to do, and do
it I will."
And in no time all my continents and lands were swirling water and
swiping strokes of house-flannel.
That was the worst of my giant visitants, but my mother too, dear
lady, was something of a terror to this microcosm. She wore spring-
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Chance by Joseph Conrad: where one has been tormented, hopeless, unhappy? Suddenly she
stirred. Was she going to cross over? No. She turned and began to
walk slowly close to the curbstone, reminding me of the time when I
discovered her walking near the edge of a ninety-foot sheer drop.
It was the same impression, the same carriage, straight, slim, with
rigid head and the two hands hanging lightly clasped in front--only
now a small sunshade was dangling from them. I saw something
fateful in that deliberate pacing towards the inconspicuous door
with the words HOTEL ENTRANCE on the glass panels.
She was abreast of it now and I thought that she would stop again;
but no! She swerved rigidly--at the moment there was no one near
Chance |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen: serious and lucrative, the temptation to relax in the evening
was too great, especially in the winter months, when the fire
cast a warm glow over his snug bachelor apartment, and a bottle
of some choice claret stood ready by his elbow. His dinner
digested, he would make a brief pretence of reading the evening
paper, but the mere catalogue of news soon palled upon him, and
Clarke would find himself casting glances of warm desire in the
direction of an old Japanese bureau, which stood at a pleasant
distance from the hearth. Like a boy before a jam-closet, for
a few minutes he would hover indecisive, but lust always
prevailed, and Clarke ended by drawing up his chair, lighting a
The Great God Pan |
