| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Young Forester by Zane Grey: the gorge below.
Herky-Jerky returned with a long, slender pole. It was as pliant as a
buggy-whip, and once trimmed and rigged it was far from being a poor
tackle. Herky-Jerky watched me with extreme attention, all the time
grinning. Then he held out a handful of grubs.
"If you ketch a trout on thet I'll swaller the pole!" he exclaimed.
I stooped low and approached the spring, being careful to keep out of
sight.
"You forgot to spit on yer bait, kid," said Bill.
They all laughed in a way to rouse my ire. But despite it I flipped the
bait into the water with the same old thrilling expectancy.
The Young Forester |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Blue Flower by Henry van Dyke: nearer--close beside me. Take my hand, my son!"
The young man obeyed, and, kneeling by the couch, gathered
his father's cold, twitching fingers in his firm, warm grasp.
"Hermas, life is passing--long, rich, prosperous; the last
sands, I cannot stay them. My religion, a good policy--Julian
was my friend. But now he is gone--where? My soul is
empty--nothing beyond--very dark--I am afraid. But you know
something better. You found something that made you willing
to give up your life for it--it, must have been almost like
dying--yet you were happy. What was it you found? See, I am
giving you everything. I have forgiven you. Now forgive me.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Records of a Family of Engineers by Robert Louis Stevenson: only be overtaken by collecting (as my grandfather expressed
it) a few `lads,' placing them under charge of a foreman, and
despatching them about the coast as occasion served. The
particular danger of these seas increased the difficulty. The
course of the lighthouse tender lies amid iron-bound coasts,
among tide-races, the whirlpools of the Pentland Firth, flocks
of islands, flocks of reefs, many of them uncharted. The aid
of steam was not yet. At first in random coasting sloop, and
afterwards in the cutter belonging to the service, the
engineer must ply and run amongst these multiplied dangers,
and sometimes late into the stormy autumn. For pages together
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