| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce: him and his executioners -- two private soldiers of the
Federal army, directed by a sergeant who in civil life may
have been a deputy sheriff. At a short remove upon the same
temporary platform was an officer in the uniform of his rank,
armed. He was a captain. A sentinel at each end of the
bridge stood with his rifle in the position known as
"support," that is to say, vertical in front of the left
shoulder, the hammer resting on the forearm thrown straight
across the chest -- a formal and unnatural position,
enforcing an erect carriage of the body. It did not appear
to be the duty of these two men to know what was occurring at
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Baby Mine by Margaret Mayo: "Where is the morning paper?" asked Aggie, excitedly.
"We can't advertise NOW," protested Zoie. "It's too late for
that."
"Sh! Sh!" answered Aggie, as she snatched the paper quickly from
the table and began running her eyes up and down its third page.
"Married-- married," she murmured, and then with delight she
found the half column for which she was searching. "Born," she
exclaimed triumphantly. "Here we are! Get a pencil, Zoie, and
we'll take down all the new ones."
"Of course," agreed Zoie, clapping her hands in glee, "and Jimmy
can get a taxi and look them right up."
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain: should trust it so--"
"Oh, certainly, I know all that; but if you had only stopped to
think, you would have seen that you COULDN'T find the right man,
because he is in his grave, and hasn't left chick nor child nor
relation behind him; and as long as the money went to somebody that
awfully needed it, and nobody would be hurt by it, and--and--"
She broke down, crying. Her husband tried to think of some
comforting thing to say, and presently came out with this:
"But after all, Mary, it must be for the best--it must be; we know
that. And we must remember that it was so ordered--"
"Ordered! Oh, everything's ORDERED, when a person has to find some
The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg |
