| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Melmoth Reconciled by Honore de Balzac: but use and wont had brought Castanier to the point where clear-
sightedness is no longer possible for love.
"I have taken a box at the Gymnase this evening," he said; "let us
have dinner early, and then we need not dine in a hurry."
"Go and take Jenny. I am tired of plays. I do not know what is the
matter with me this evening; I would rather stay here by the fire."
"Come, all the same though, Naqui; I shall not be here to bore you
much longer. Yes, Quiqui, I am going to start to-night, and it will be
some time before I come back again. I am leaving everything in your
charge. Will you keep your heart for me too?"
"Neither my heart nor anything else," she said; "but when you come
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Dunbar: Monday came, clear and blue and stifling. The waves of hot air
danced on the sands and adown the one street merrily. Glassily
calm lay the Pontchartrain, heavily still hung the atmosphere.
Madame Alvarez cast an inquiring glance toward the sky.
Grandpere Colomes chuckled. He had not lived on the shores of
the treacherous Lake Pontchartrain for nothing. He knew its
every mood, its petulances and passions; he knew this glassy
warmth and what it meant. Chuckling again and again, he stepped
to the gallery and looked out over the lake, and at the pier,
where lay the boats rocking and idly tugging at their moorings.
La Juanita in her rose-scented room tied the pink ribbons on her
The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Amazing Interlude by Mary Roberts Rinehart: a manger and stood before her smiling.
"You bandage well, mademoiselle," he said gayly. "But I? I bandage
better! See now, a turn here, and it is done! Does it hurt, Paul?"
The man in the dressing chair squirmed and grinned sheepishly.
"The iodine," he explained. "It is painful."
"Then I shall ask you a question, and you will forget the iodine. Why
is a dead German like the tail of a pig?"
Paul failed. The room failed. Even Colonel Lilias confessed himself at
fault.
"Because it is the end of the swine," explained Henri, and looked about
him triumphantly. A gust of laughter spread through the room and even
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