| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Stories From the Old Attic by Robert Harris: back to the old woman and said, "I'm sorry I got mad. The truth is,
I'd do anything to be happy for one hour."
"That pretty well sums up your entire problem," the old woman said.
Two Conversations on Direction
"And then you turn here to the right."
"Really? No, I don't think so. The left path must be the way.
It's more attractive, and it somehow just feels right."
"I'm sorry, but you have to take the fork to the right. See the
little sign pointing the way?"
"Yes, but something just tells me the left fork is the one to
take. The ground looks better, and that tree up ahead seems
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: affairs happened to engage him; the months slipped by, and
gradually the lady and the picture dwelt less vividly in his
mind.
It was not till five or six years later, when chance took him
again to Siena, that the recollection started from some inner
fold of memory. He found himself, as it happened, at the head of
Doctor Lombard's street, and glancing down that grim
thoroughfare, caught an oblique glimpse of the doctor's house
front, with the Dead Hand projecting above its threshold.
The sight revived his interest, and that evening, over an
admirable frittata, he questioned his landlady about Miss
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