So now you have sent a leaf, and received a leaf -- and on its other side, a tale or story. Read the story you've received, and reflect not only on the story itself, but on the message it seems to send. Can you deduce anything about the teller from the tale? Does this leaf seem serious or silly, sad or happy? Or does the story, perhaps, remind you of one you know, or stir up a memory, either of lived experience or of a tale you may have heard somewhere? Also: look closely at the visual design of the leaf -- what do its shape and colors suggest to you? Is the leaf realistic, or fanciful? Bright and colorful or more muted? Let you mind roam through every association that occurs to you.
Then make a second leaf. On the back of this leaf, write a story in return, a story for a story. You may, if you wish, direct it very specifically at the sender, or you can write in broader terms with no particular audience in mind -- but you must, in some way, write in response to the leaf you have received. Then send your leaf to your writing partner, remembering to cc: me in your e-mail. One both of you have both leaves in hand -- your own one, and the one you've received -- then come back to this space here on the blog and you'll be ready for the third and final phase of what I'm calling "Project Niggle."
