Every Christmas Eve when I was younger, I would sit down with my mom and read Christmas stories.  Among them were classics like Twas the Night Before Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Polar Express.  My mother would read to me and I’d look at the pages.  The images would come alive in my head as if the pages themselves moved.  I loved those stories, but I didn’t care for reading. It was boring. I was forced to read stories about dumb or dull subjects.  Although I hated reading at first, I learned to appreciate stories and the immense knowledge and creative power they brought and still bring to us today. I learned to believe in the power of stories.

I enjoy reading.  I love reading books and unraveling the stories they tell.  I love starting a new book, meeting the characters, and being introduced into the world.  I’ll become so engrossed in a book that I will sit and read for hours on end. I try and find time to read every day and I believe others should too.

Stephen King once said, “Books are a uniquely portable magic.”  To me, this is true. Reading a book won’t give you magical abilities; rather, something much better, the power of imagination.  Stories allow you to form new ideas and thoughts. Some may be whimsical and creative, while others may be depressing or upsetting.  Stories give you the power to see the world how the author hopes for you to see it.

Without stories, where would we be?  Entire cultures have been formed from stories. Even thousands of years ago there were stories.  Texts like The Iliad and plays like Hamlet have influenced us in unimaginable ways.  Entire religions have been developed around stories and books.  What would our world be like had books such as The Bible, The Torah, or The Quran not been written?

I believe life would be a little less amusing without stories.  They shape who we are, building us as individuals and as a whole.  By reading, we open our minds to new adventures, new horizons. Stories burn questions into our heads that may never be answered, we may never find out what happened to Lina’s father in Between Shades of Gray, or what has become of young Albus Potter after the events of The Cursed Child.

Stories can also bring immense knowledge.  As children, they taught us small lessons. Now, they may teach us about love, friendship, or how to build a catapult.  They allow us to see life from new angles, to travel through time, and to explore new cultures. Stories lead us into rabbit holes of thought, causing us to pursue new knowledge.

There are books that I’ve read that will stick with me forever.  I’ll always find something that causes me to remember a certain scene or character.  The worlds that the authors create will always be there at the back of my mind feeding my imagination.

Now I ask myself, without the stories that shaped me, who would I be?  What kind of person would I have become? These are questions that I’ll never be capable of answering.  Not just because I am unable to, but because I wouldn't want to. I would not want to know a world without these narratives. I grew up with these stories, and even though I may have hated to read, I still loved them and will forever cherish the memories of reading Christmas stories with my mom.