It all sounded bad, but familiar as an old, scratchy record. He had heard it all before, in almost the same words, back in `57 and `58. So why push the panic button? Mark could be wrong. He couldn`t know, for certain, that the balloon was going up. Unless he knew something fresh, something that had not appeared in the newspapers, or been broadcast.

    This paragraph stuck out to me for one reason, and one reason only. It shows me how redundant the world is. Hearing the same old thing everyday, like 'the gas prices are through the roof,' or 'the global economy is in the crapper.' It gets old, real fast. Why can`t we find a better, more interesting subject to talk about? Something a little more upbeat, like how the progress of the war is good. That`s something I would like to wake up to.

    As soon as she saw Dave`s face, Florence could sense whether the news was going to be good or bad. On this morning Dave looked troubled, and sure enough, when he began to give the news, it was bad. The Russians had sent up another Sputnik, No. 23, and somthing sinister was going on in the Middle East. Sputnik No. 23 was the largest yet, according to the Smithsonian Institution, and was radioing continuous and elaborate coded signals. "There is reason to believe," Frank said, "that Sputniks of this size are equipped to observe the terrain of the earth below."

    As soon as Marry saw the news she knew that somthing wasn`t right. She could tell by the pained look on the mans face. When the man began he started with a thin weak voice. The Ducks had lost for the first time all season. If that wasn`t bad enough they lost the biggest game of the year. Somthing was wrong, the Ducks never lose. As he went on he said "Though the Ducks lost and ten of them were injured they still ended up wining. In further investigation of the opposing team the CFL found that the other team was taking prefomance inhansing drugs and was disqualified."

    We were gathered together for what we expected to be the last time. The ten Travelers and Uncle Press. Our final meeting took place in the same spot where I had said my good-byes to Mark and Courtney. We were in the center rotunda of the Taj Mahal. Uncle Press had called us together, and we knew why.

    We were called together for only the second time in each of our careers. The five of us stood in the small room. It was dark when the giant video monitor flickered to life. The Man in the Mask ,as he liked to be called, appeared to give us our instructions. This time was different, he didn`t speak right away. When he did speak, he spoke with a pained voice. We all got the hint that somthing was wrong. With no warning the monitor exploded. We were under attack. We knew our identities had been compromised.

     The young minister, on ceasing to speak, had withdrawn a few steps from the group, and stood with his face partially concealed in the heavy folds of the window-curtain; while the shadow of his figure, which the sunlight cast upon the floor, was tremulous with the vehemence of his appeal. Pearl, that wild flighty little elf, stole softly towards him, and, taking his hand in the grasp of both her own, laid her cheek against it; a caress so tender, and withal so unobtrusive, that her mother, who was looking on, asked herself,-"Is this my Pearl?" Yet she knew that there was love in the child`s heart, although it mostly revealed itself in passion, and hardly twice in her lifetime had been softened by such gentleness as now. The minister,-for, save the long-sought regards of woman, nothing is sweeter than these marks of childish preference, accorded spontaneously by a spiritual instinct, and therefore seeming to imply in us something truly worthy to be loved,-the minister looked round, laid his hand on the child`s head, hesitated an instant, and then kissed her brow. Little Pearl`s unwonted mood of sentiment lasted no longer; she laughed, and went capering down the hall, so airily, that old Mr. Wilson raised a question whether even her tiptoes touched the floor.

     I picked this paragraph for no reason inparticular. It did show, however, what the auther can do. It tells you that Pearl is a stoned hearted little elf. It also shows that no matter how evil she is, she still has the room in her heart to show compassion. You can tell that the auther is skilled in the art of writing, if not from the book in a whole, just this paragraph tells you that she knows how to put a character together. She can also show a sensitive side to a beast in just a moment time.