Uncurling/opening spiral (or vine) - any ideas?

Hey guys - I’m trying to make a really simple portfolio page for myself in Flash. I have to get it done stat - today or tomorrow hopefully. For lack of any better ideas, I decided to make a sort of vine/stalk with spiraling branches that uncurl to reveal links - not sure if I’m explaining this too well.

Anyway - I’m trying to think of how I can animate the uncurling/opening of the spiral vines/branches when they are clicked. I’d prefer to do this with tweening or masking, so that I can draw the vine myself. However, if that proves too difficult, I could try generating and uncurling the spirals in ActionScript.

Anyway, just looking for some ideas, since I can’t think of anything right now. Thanks!