even in his fast blurring consciousness , josh perceived the complex web of symbol and foretelling , metaphor and allusion , that these trees cast over and around his current fate , their literal and figurative shadow , a shadow cast even before he knew of its existencebefore angies blog entry , before lauras selfless care , before the blood disorder and amputation , before his howling loneliness trapped in this house , before the ice storm , even before theyd planted those twigs : the shadow had predated it all .