We're a story-telling lot, us humans.

Sometimes it's an earnest actor in a white lab-coat or a black suit, trying to convince us that his toxic fluoride toothpaste is good for our health or that his party's million-dollar spend on weapons is for peace. And they do it with such a straight face!

Sometimes the story's presented with a chuckle and we know another fiction is on the way: "did you hear the one about …"

And, sometimes, just sometimes, there's a story parading as nought but itself – a clear fiction – and you're in it. The real, non-fictional you. That's why the authentically fictional stories – fables, proverbs, legends – outlast us all and are told down the centuries … we're in them; parading our best and worst, our most silly and most sublime. The universality of stories is the unity of humans. We're all strangely, uniquely alike and we can all see – if we so choose – our reality in the unreality we closet ourselves with round the fireside, in schools, churches and pubs and in our quiet, solo moments.

Stories are the comforters we carry in our hearts and minds and our own particular stories are the way we initiate and create friendships and relationships.

These stories, my friend, are my offering of friendship and may they provide balance, smiles, tears and insight when no other exist for you.

What do you remember from childhood? The myriad facts that become daily obsolete or the stories – prose, poetic and lyrical – you were told?

My friend, Faisal, is Somalian and he tells me there is no written Somali language. Their history, rituals and roots are written on the tongues of the elders and passed down the hundreds of generations by verbal stories. We who write facts down, forget what happened last week while those with just stories never forget. Stories are how we remember Truth for, while "truths" of scientists change by the month, the Truths of who we are and how we serve each other never change. Goodness and mercy are ever the same as are the battles of good and evil, the anguish and triumph of humans and simple fallibility and strength we have.

The stories here are the stories of old with refreshing new garb, with unique wit and insight and surprise endings.

These are the stories of you and me – what we are and what we can be – and they can be passed down to your grandchildren so they remember who they are and who you were.

Stories outlast us and are told down the centuries because we're in them, parading our best and worst. We're all strangely, uniquely alike and can see – if we choose – our reality in the unreality we closet ourselves with round the fireside, in schools, churches and pubs and in our quieter moments.

Stories are the comforters for our hearts and minds and our own particular stories are the way we initiate and create friendships and relationships.

This story is my offering of friendship and may it provide insight when no other exists for you.