| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac: blooming health that glowed in her dimpled face. There was in her soul
some element of ruth or of hope; her manner suggested a secret, like
the expression of devout souls who pray in excess, or of a girl who
has killed her child and for ever hears its last cry. Nevertheless,
she was simple and clumsy in her ways; her vacant smile had nothing
criminal in it, and you would have pronounced her innocent only from
seeing the large red and blue checked kerchief that covered her
stalwart bust, tucked into the tight-laced bodice of a lilac- and
white-striped gown. 'No,' said I to myself, 'I will not quit Vendome
without knowing the whole history of la Grande Breteche. To achieve
this end, I will make love to Rosalie if it proves necessary.'
 La Grande Breteche |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Betty Zane by Zane Grey: "Eb, what will Lew Wetzel do on a night dike this?" asked Betty, curiously.
"Oh, Lew will be as snug as a rabbit in his burrow," said Colonel Zane,
laughing. "In a few moments he can build a birch bark shack, start a fire
inside and go to sleep comfortably."
"Ebenezer, what is all this confab about? What did my brother tell you?" asked
Mrs. Zane, anxiously.
"We are in for more trouble from the Wyandots and Shawnees. But, Bessie, I
don't believe it will come soon. We are too well protected here for anything
but a protracted siege."
Colonel Zane's light and rather evasive answer did not deceive his wife. She
knew her brother and her husband would not wear anxious faces for nothing. Her
 Betty Zane |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane: Maggie broke a plate.
The mother started to her feet as if propelled.
"Good Gawd," she howled. Her eyes glittered on her child with
sudden hatred. The fervent red of her face turned almost to
purple. The little boy ran to the halls, shrieking like a monk in
an earthquake.
He floundered about in darkness until he found the stairs. He stumbled,
panic-stricken, to the next floor. An old woman opened a door.
A light behind her threw a flare on the urchin's quivering face.
"Eh, Gawd, child, what is it dis time? Is yer fader beatin'
yer mudder, or yer mudder beatin' yer fader?"
 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets |