| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart: stood there. It must have been after eleven, and the monotonous
tick of the big clock on the stairs behind me was the only sound.
Then I was conscious that some one was running up the drive. In
a minute a woman darted into the area of light made by the open
door, and caught me by the arm. It was Rosie--Rosie in a state
of collapse from terror, and, not the least important, clutching
one of my Coalport plates and a silver spoon.
She stood staring into the darkness behind, still holding the
plate. I got her into the house and secured the plate; then I
stood and looked down at her where she crouched tremblingly
against the doorway.
The Circular Staircase |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy: Prince Andrew approaching the crowd of soldiers. "It can't be an
attack, for they are not moving; it can't be a square- for they are
not drawn up for that."
The commander of the regiment, a thin, feeble-looking old man with a
pleasant smile- his eyelids drooping more than half over his old eyes,
giving him a mild expression, rode up to Bagration and welcomed him as
a host welcomes an honored guest. He reported that his regiment had
been attacked by French cavalry and that, though the attack had been
repulsed, he had lost more than half his men. He said the attack had
been repulsed, employing this military term to describe what had
occurred to his regiment, but in reality he did not himself know
War and Peace |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne: taking refuge in my room, we looked at each other without speaking.
A deep stupor had taken hold of my mind: thought seemed to stand still.
I was in that painful state of expectation preceding a dreadful report.
I waited, I listened, every sense was merged in that of hearing!
The speed of the Nautilus was accelerated. It was preparing to rush.
The whole ship trembled. Suddenly I screamed. I felt the shock,
but comparatively light. I felt the penetrating power of the steel spur.
I heard rattlings and scrapings. But the Nautilus, carried along
by its propelling power, passed through the mass of the vessel like a
needle through sailcloth!
I could stand it no longer. Mad, out of my mind, I rushed
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea |
