She looked again on the mantis. For the first time she became aware of a stillness to its presence; an almost holy, sacred stillness. What was this? After a while she asked, "What will I find there?"- The Praying Mantis The Blossom Tree presents a series of sharply written short stories with a genuine New Zealand voice. Heartwarming, tender, gritty and humorous, nearly all the stories are drawn from real people and based on true events.