| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce: rustic bench near the entrance to his grounds, a gray-clad
soldier rode up to the gate and asked for a drink of water.
Mrs. Fahrquhar was only too happy to serve him with her own
white hands. While she was fetching the water her husband
approached the dusty horseman and inquired eagerly for news
from the front.
"The Yanks are repairing the railroads," said the man, "and
are getting ready for another advance. They have reached the
Owl Creek bridge, put it in order and built a stockade on the
north bank. The commandant has issued an order, which is
posted everywhere, declaring that any civilian caught
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Rescue by Joseph Conrad: sadly out of it, somehow.
Lingard had called out sharply--"What do you see?" The answer
direct and quick was--"I hear, Tuan. I hear oars."
"Whereabouts?"
"The night is all around us. I hear them near."
"Port or starboard?"
There was a short delay in answer this time. On the quarter-deck,
under the poop, bare feet shuffled. Somebody coughed. At last the
voice forward said doubtfully:
"Kanan."
"Call the serang, Mr. Shaw," said Lingard, calmly, "and have the
The Rescue |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Distinguished Provincial at Paris by Honore de Balzac: accents, and he looked at Lucien with an air which seemed to betoken
an effort of generosity.
"The volume?" queried Lucien.
"For the romance," said Doguereau, heedless of Lucien's surprise. "In
ready money," he added; "and you shall undertake to write two books
for me every year for six years. If the first book is out of print in
six months, I will give you six hundred francs for the others. So, if
you write two books each year, you will be making a hundred francs a
month; you will have a sure income, you will be well off. There are
some authors whom I only pay three hundred francs for a romance; I
give two hundred for translations of English books. Such prices would
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