There Are No Stories Here

The world doesn’t need stories. Stories are purely entertainment, a way to fritter away time better spent being constructive.

Think of the money we would all save without stories.

Books, of course—that’s the obvious one. We could get rid of all the bookcases around our house, as well as the expensive e-readers.

I know a lot of people have cancelled cable, but they still watch television shows through other avenues. Without stories, not only would we save on Netflix/Hulu/other sources of streaming content, we’d also save on the television itself.

No more movies, either, whether that be on our computers and televisions, or in the theaters. So there’s a good chunk of time and money recovered.

No need for game systems. Games are stories, so we can finally rid ourselves of that burden, as well.

Music wouldn’t have pesky lyrics to muddle it up, and the notes themselves would be less complex. Art would be…well, we probably wouldn’t have art at all.

Think of the stress we’d save ourselves if we didn’t have to worry about the news anymore. Without news stories we could move forward each day, blissfully unaware of what’s going on in the world, in our town, or up the street. And at the end of each day when we sat down to dinner, we wouldn’t have to relive our day by sharing it with our family. And we wouldn’t have to listen to how their day went, either.

If you’re hurt, the doctor won’t bother to ask how it happened.

If you get married, you don’t have to hire a photographer.

If you kill someone, no one will ask you why.

No. The world doesn’t need stories in any form. Keep your head down. Do your work. And try to find a way to communicate without telling any stories.

R.L. Naquin

Rachel is the author of the urban fantasy Monster Haven series from Carina Press. She believes in magic, the power of love, good cheese, lucky socks, and putting things off until stress gets them done faster at the last minute. Her home is Disneyland, despite her current location in Kansas.