| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart: "The young man up-stairs was awake," she went on, "and hammering at
his door like all possessed. And it was locked on the outside!"
She paused to enjoy her sensation.
"I would like to see that lock," Hotchkiss said promptly, but for
some reason the woman demurred.
"I will bring the key down," she said and disappeared. When she
returned she held out an ordinary door key of the cheapest variety.
"We had to break the lock," she volunteered, "and the key didn't
turn up for two days. Then one of the twins found the turkey
gobbler trying to swallow it. It has been washed since," she
hastened to assure Hotchkiss, who showed an inclination to drop it.
 The Man in Lower Ten |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Memorabilia by Xenophon: begging him to allow Archedemus to be their guardian also, and
Archedemus was overjoyed to do something to gratify Crito, and so it
came about that not only Crito abode in peace, but his friends
likewise. If any of those people with whom Archedemus was not on the
best of terms were disposed to throw it in his teeth that he accepted
his patron's benefits and paid in flatteries, he had a ready retort:
"Answer me this question--which is the more scandalous, to accept
kindnesses from honest folk and to repay them, with the result that I
make such people my friends but quarrel with knaves, or to make
enemies of honourable gentlemen[7] by attempts to do them wrong, with
the off-chance indeed of winning the friendship of some scamps in
 The Memorabilia |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne: honourable gentleman, mathematically pursuing his eccentric journey
round the world.
The papers resumed their discussion about the wager; all those
who had laid bets, for or against him, revived their interest,
as if by magic; the "Phileas Fogg bonds" again became negotiable,
and many new wagers were made. Phileas Fogg's name was once more
at a premium on 'Change.
His five friends of the Reform Club passed these three days in
a state of feverish suspense. Would Phileas Fogg, whom they had
forgotten, reappear before their eyes! Where was he at this moment?
The 17th of December, the day of James Strand's arrest,
 Around the World in 80 Days |