THE STORY-TREE jbearden 5/29/2000 A story is like a tree -- starting from a small seed, it can reach enormous heights, branching out in many directions. A well-told tale gives shelter to weary travelers as they huddle 'round a fire. Children, in innocent joy, climb from limb to limb of a story, reveling in the sense of freedom, high above the ground. Sometimes they, too, shelter in a tale, building cozy huts in a favorite crook of a sturdy bough. Adults spend scarce free time resting in the shade of a mighty, oaken novel. Watching the world pass by from within the sun-speckled shadows, these fortunate people lead wonderfully fulfilling lives, one page at a time. But perhaps the writers enjoy their trees the most. Authors are the soil and sunlight, the wind and water that help a tree grow from the idea-seed to an outline-sapling and, finally, into a fully mature story-tree. Though at least for myself, things don't always grow in such a well-defined order: even as I write the roots, I am planning the uppermost leaves.