ABOUT THE AUTHOR PF Farraday is the award winning published author of the 2018 IAA GOLDEN WRITER AWARD. This book was a finalist in the 2017 INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS for body/mind/spirit/ category. MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR I wrote the foundation for this story last year. At a troubled time in my life when I needed guidance and help, and people turned me away and friends turned the other cheek, I found myself feeling lonely and weak. I struggled to find the strength to get through, so I searched around for an answer. I couldn't find it in spending money or buying things, nor in the comforting words of others. Instead, I eventually found the answer lie in a place near the school where I once taught. One afternoon, as I sat alone in a park in China I noticed a dark storm was coming in the distance. The closer it got the more veracious and angry it seemed. I watched as many of the beautiful trees began to sway, bend, and eventually break in the wake of the powerful storm. When it was all over, I looked around at the devastation. There was a single tree still standing. I soon realized something. So, I put pen to paper and thus, this story was written. ABOUT THE STORY The story of 'Tree and the storm' started out as a simple message on my social media site about troubled times are the test of one's character. After I posted the message, I read it again and soon realized how it explains why through tough times in our lives we may waiver, bend, and eventually even break. But if we look deep enough into our hearts we begin to realize that our roots, however humble they may be, are the key to one's strength and surviving difficult times in our lives. PLOT 'Set in the mountains of south China, a little, brown, bare tree stands high up on a cliff edge. She watched as the other trees grew and blossomed in the spring with beautiful flowers of pink, and never understood why she was different or why she wasn't beautiful. And so for many years she felt unhappy with herself. One year, a powerful storm came in from the west. It beat down on the mountain side unleashing rage with all its might, and one by one the blossom trees began to bow and break in the strong wind. After a few days of lashing rains and relentless winds, all the other trees had fallen and the little tree, well, she was damaged, broken, and bowed. But she still remained. As she held on and struggled to survive the storm, it eventually subsided and with nothing left to give he sat down beside her and asked the little oak tree why she didn't fall like all the others? She was exhausted. But somewhere deep inside her she knew it was the strength of her roots that helped her make it through this difficult and hard time in her life, and survive the storm.' For more info go to: www.farradaybooks.com