After being vexed, harassed, threatened (not really, but, what the heck, it's my foreword), and chivvied into writing this tale, I found that I was really enjoying getting into the story. It was, however, a tale that I was certain would be no longer than a short story, perhaps a novelette at most.
Wow, was I wrong.
You see, although I knew the relatively simple story I had envisioned was really quite straightforward, what I hadn't considered were how the doings of those who became involved in the tale complicated everything. So, the story wasn't really about what one central character did, but instead was about the involvements of all of those people caught up in the events surrounding him. And that's the nub of it: most stories are about how conflicting interests swirl about the characters caught in the grip of events, and what they do in response. Some drive the story, some merely respond to whatever might come, others are quite passive and their conduct one way or another has no lasting effect.
The trick is, to make the actions of the principal characters drive the story down expected as well as unexpected paths.
I hope I've done so herein.