| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce: not quite, reached a fourth. This plank had been held in
place by the weight of the captain; it was now held by that
of the sergeant. At a signal from the former the latter
would step aside, the plank would tilt and the condemned man
go down between two ties. The arrangement commended itself
to his judgement as simple and effective. His face had not
been covered nor his eyes bandaged. He looked a moment at
his "unsteadfast footing," then let his gaze wander to the
swirling water of the stream racing madly beneath his feet.
A piece of dancing driftwood caught his attention and his
eyes followed it down the current. How slowly it appeared
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare: For now she knows it is no gentle chase,
But the blunt boar, rough bear, or lion proud, 884
Because the cry remaineth in one place,
Wilere fearfully the dogs exclaim aloud:
Finding their enemy to be so curst,
They all strain courtesy who shall cope him first.
This dismal cry rings sadly in her ear, 889
Througll which it enters to surprise her heart;
Who, overcome by doubt and bloodless fear,
With cold-pale weakness numbs each feeling part;
Like soldiers, when their captain once doth yield,
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Vailima Letters by Robert Louis Stevenson: They went to the boy's bed (they sleep in the walled-in
compartment of the verandah, once my dressing-room) and
called at once for me. He lay like one asleep, talking in
drowsy tones but without excitement, and at times 'cheeping'
like a frightened mouse; he was quite cool to the touch, and
his pulse not fast; his breathing seemed wholly ventral; the
bust still, the belly moving strongly. Presently he got from
his bed, and ran for the door, with his head down not three
feet from the floor and his body all on a stretch forward,
like a striking snake: I say 'ran,' but this strange movement
was not swift. Lloyd and I mastered him and got him back in
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