I love stories. I have loved stories my whole life. I’ve loved to be told stories, to have someone make something up and tell me some delicious tale or to read to me from a book. I sink into this place of security and comfort. I escape into the fantasy of the story. When I was in my 20s, my brother and I worked in merchandising together. We would have to travel hundreds of miles to various grocery stores around our state. Before we’d leave, we’d choose a book of short stories. As we drove, we’d read to one another, sharing in this experience of story and comraderie and a type of intimacy that only siblings can understand. One of our favorite authors to read on these trips was Raymond Carver. Perhaps it was because my brother had met him. Maybe it was because he speaks of themes we understand. Whatever it was, Raymond Carver became our shared experience.

While we don’t travel together anymore, we still tell stories. We make up stories to tell to his two kids. We share our histories and embellish and make our childhood memories sound exciting and fun.

One of the greatest delights in my lifetime is sharing a story with a partner. Curled up in bed, we read to one another from books we’ve chosen to share. Bodies wrapped around one another, comfortable and safe, we tell one another stories under the cover of darkness before slipping off to sleep.

Storytelling is incredibly intimate. Even if I’m being read to from a book, it is a sharing of one’s loves, passions, and joys. We share a piece of ourselves when we read or tell stories.

Late night stories are, for me, a lullabye. They comfort me. They make me feel special. They wrap me in a cocoon and surround me completely. I’m being sung to sleep by the voice of a lover. I’m being cradled in his voice. I’m being rocked by the cadence of words.

—

Lullabye
Concrete Blonde

When the sky has fallen
like a blanket on your shoulder
and the moon is like a mother
looking over you forever
and the dawn is so familiar
you were meant to be together
like a fog around a mountain-forever

Chorus:
so softly-so sweetly
surrounding you completely
sing you a lullabye-a lullabye to you

when your breathing is the wind
and your crying is the rain
well I know you will remember
because the music is forever
the living of a lover-
and the loving of another
like a sister to a brother
like a father to a mother

(Chorus)