Walking down the streets of Chicago you notice a small pamphlet fluttering in the wind. The plain black and white paper lands on the ground at your feet. Overcome by curiosity you reach down and pick it up.

So You Think You Have a Story?

Toby’s Jazz Club

Suburbs, Chicago

8PM

Glancing at your watch you notice that it is already 7:30 PM. Having nothing else to do for the night you decide you’ll stop over there and check it out. At least you’ll be able to get a drink there.

Hurrying across town you end up outside the club at 7:50. As you slowly make your way closer to the door the small neon sign above the door flickers. As you push your way through the heavy metal door you are greeted by the dull roar of multiple conversations. The inside of the club was set up for maximum floor space. The large dance floor was covered in chairs and what looked like hundreds of people. Situated in the middle of the floor was a stage with a single stool and a small table with a glass of water sitting on it.

Standing on the stage was a man dressed in a black suit looking out over the crowd of people.

Toberius cleared his throat and takes a seat on the stool.

“Ladies and gentlemen if you would please takes your seats, we can begin."

After a few moments of shuffling and last minute adjustments the room goes quiet.

"Perfect. Let's begin."

"When I was just a little lad my father told me a story, and that story had been told to him by his father. This story has been passed down from father to son for over twelve generations. Now I didn't gather you fine folks to tell you this story, but instead to ask a question. What purpose do our stories serve? Are they simply meant to pass along the oral history of your family or do our stories change how we view and perceive the world?"

Toberius lifts the glass of water sitting next to him and takes a short sip. Placing the glass back onto the table Toberius removed a cigarette from the case in his jacket pocket. Taking a quick drag he moved to address the crowd.

"You're probably wondering where I'm going with this aren't you?"

A few members of the audience begin to noticeably nod their heads in agreement.

"I would like to invite my audience members to come up on stage and tell us what they think storytelling. In your opinion what purpose does it serve, if any? Why do stories captivate our minds, and how do they influence our decisions? I want to hear some honest opinions about the role of a story."

Toberius stands from his stool and begins to move toward the side of the stage.

"Please feel free to spend as much or as little time discussing this. If you are really feeling adventurous go ahead and share your story with us. There aren't many times you'll have a captivate audience like this."

Toberius smiles and waits for the first person to come up.   

Hearing an interesting speach anima decides to step forward

Personally, I feel that stories can have so many uses.  But in general, they fall under one of three categories

1. Family history - Sometimes there are some mobsters out there whose family's history is much like a roller coaster.  Filled with ups and downs and lots of twists and turns.  These history's can be super interesting to hear and they serve as a great way to learn about some of our fellow gangsters.
2. Current events - Other times we find ourselves in times of great historical signifcance.  These could cause large changes in the economy, or usher in whole new generations of gangster.  Tales of these great moments often times are great for catching our attention and teaching us something about the world around us.
3. Fun - I think the third genre is my favorite, unfortunately I feel like we miss out on these a lot.  Sometimes a story is just that, a great way to entertain each other.  In a world full of trials and tribulations like the one we find ourselves in sometimes it's nice to let our minds escape to somewhere else.

I too am interested to hear what others have to say.

I really have to agree with you on your third point about stories for fun. They are, in my opinion at least, some of the most enjoyable to read, but they also offer the most difficulty for the writer. 

Do you think that any particular brand of story is more important than another, or do they work best in conjunction with one another? 

Toberius takes a drag of his cigarette and ashes it onto the floor. 

I like to give each their own time to shine, but I can't help but ask myself is there something uniquely important about any particular branch of story telling? Or do they offer the reader the same thing only packaged differently? What makes a family history better or worse than a fictional history, or from an Auth speech? 

After taking a moment to think anima responds

I think they all have their place amongst the streets. I do think that stories related to current events are probably the most important tho.  There are so many happening in this world that at times it's hard to keep up.  Stories that give us multiple points of view into a situation help keep the general populous in the loop of what's going on.