Chapter 8        Being very excited that she had found a new friend, or is it friends when two beings are of the same tree? StellaLuna continued to follow the path into the forest to see who else she could find. As she rounded a corner, she heard a voice. She could see a face in the tree that was talking, but she couldn’t see who the tree was talking to. She walked up and sat in front of the tree quietly and waited, knowing good manners means you don't interrupt when someone is speaking. The tree just kept on talking as it looked at her and gave her a little smile. She soon realized that the tree was telling a story. She thought it was a very interesting story, so StellaLuna continued to sit quietly and listen. Finally, after a while, the tree stopped telling the story, looked down at her, and said, “Hello puppy, my name is Homer. I am a storyteller, did you enjoy the part of the story you heard?”        “Yes,” said StellaLuna with her happy bark, “my name is StellaLuna. Why did you stop telling the story and not end it? … And who were you telling it to?”         “I was taking part in the telling,” said Homer         “What's the telling?” said StellaLuna.        “The telling is the telling and retelling of the long story,“ said Homer. ”All of us storytellers do this at first-sun, mid-sun, and last-sun. Each time, we continue telling the story from where we last left off, and stop the telling after the sun moves a certain distance. We do this in harmony so that no matter where you are, you are in the same place in the telling. Once we finally get to the current end of the long story, we start from the beginning and start telling it again. Currently, it takes 3441 tellings to reach the end. ”        “I only heard you talking and no one else,” said StellaLuna.         “That’s because we storytellers are scattered throughout the forests,” said Homer, "and our above-ground voices don't travel very far. Now, if you had roots in the ground, you would hear all the storytellers telling the long story in harmony. So, for the benefit of the rootless, we say it out loud above ground, too. That way, any being who wishes to listen can. Would you like to hear another part of the story? I can recite any part word for word if you know what part you want to hear,” asked Homer. “I also know a few short stories that are not part of the long story, if you would like to hear one of those.”        “I would love to hear a short story before I continue with my adventure,” said StellaLuna.         "I know one about a boy named Max,” said Homer. “It’s a wild short odyssey that ends with dinner. Would you like to hear it?”        “YES” said StellaLuna. “I love dinner and stories”.         As StellaLuna listened to the story, Me had finished his visit with Mr. Scribbles and was walking back to the critter car. He couldn’t see StellaLuna through the open window and thought she was just lying down and napping ...but soon enough, Me would be on an adventure of his own … or would it be a quest? … An adventurous quest to find StellaLuna.