| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Roads of Destiny by O. Henry: bartender in St. Louis. His discerning eye fell upon the form of
Chicken Ruggles as he pecked with avidity at the free lunch. Chicken
was a "hobo." He had a long nose like the bill of a fowl, an
inordinate appetite for poultry, and a habit of gratifying it without
expense, which accounts for the name given him by his fellow vagrants.
Physicians agree that the partaking of liquids at meal times is not a
healthy practice. The hygiene of the saloon promulgates the opposite.
Chicken had neglected to purchase a drink to accompany his meal. The
bartender rounded the counter, caught the injudicious diner by the ear
with a lemon squeezer, led him to the door and kicked him into the
street.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Polly of the Circus by Margaret Mayo: His step was very bright the morning he first went up the path
that led to his new home. His artistic sense was charmed by the
picturesque approach to the church and parsonage. The view
toward the tree-encircled spire was unobstructed, for the church
had been built on the outskirts of the town to allow for a growth
that had not materialised. He threw up his head and gazed at the
blue hills, with their background of soft, slow-moving clouds.
The smell of the fresh earth, the bursting of the buds, the
forming of new life, set him thrilling with a joy that was very
near to pain.
He stopped half way up the path and considered the advantages of
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Twice Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: excluded from mercy, the monarch's most dreaded and hated foe,
this New England merchant had stood triumphantly against a
kingdom's strength; and his foot now trod upon humbled Royalty,
as he ascended the steps of the Province House, the people's
chosen Governor of Massachusetts.
"Wretch, wretch that I am!" muttered the old woman, with such a
heart-broken expression that the tears gushed from the stranger's
eyes "Have I bidden a traitor welcome? Come, Death! come
quickly!"
"Alas, venerable lady!" said Governor Hancock, tending her his
support with all the reverence that a courtier would have shown
Twice Told Tales |
