| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum: Jack was not especially pleased with this idea; but he submitted to having
his left leg amputated by the Tin Woodman and whittled down to fit the left
leg of the Saw-Horse. Nor was the Saw-Horse especially pleased with the
operation, either; for he growled a good deal about being "butchered," as he
called it, and afterward declared that the new leg was a disgrace to a
respectable Saw-Horse.
"I beg you to be more careful in your speech," said the Pumpkinhead,
sharply. "Remember, if you please, that it is my leg you are abusing."
"I cannot forget it," retorted the Saw-Horse, "for it is quite as flimsy as
the rest of your person."
"Flimsy! me flimsy!" cried Jack, in a rage. "How dare you call me flimsy?"
The Marvelous Land of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe: rage of the distemper in September came upon us, it drove us out of
all measures. Men did then no more (lie by tale and by number. They
might put out a weekly bill, and call them seven or eight thousand, or
what they pleased; 'tis certain they died by heaps, and were buried by
heaps, that is to say, without account. And if I might believe some
people, who were more abroad and more conversant with those things
than I though I was public enough for one that had no more business
to do than I had, - I say, if I may believe them, there was not many less
buried those first three weeks in September than 20,000 per week.
However, the others aver the truth of it; yet I rather choose to keep to
the public account; seven and eight thousand per week is enough to
A Journal of the Plague Year |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Voice of the City by O. Henry: to say, on a park bench with rickety cast-iron legs.
His honor was at stake. He had engaged to storm
the castle single-handed and bring back the treas-
ure that was to furnish them wassail and solace. And
all that stood between him and the coveted dollar
was his wife, once a little girl whom he could -- aha!
-- why not again? Once with soft words he could, as
they say, twist her around his little finger. Why not
again? Not for years had he tried it. Grim poverty
and mutual hatred had killed all that. But Ragsy
and Kidd were waiting for him to bring the dollar!
The Voice of the City |
