A life without stories would be like a basketball game without nets. A Matter Of Balance is about a young boy named Harold that was in the National Park mining for gold. While he was walking through the forest Harold had noticed two bikers that had started to follow him. He ended up getting into a tight situation where he was at a dead end and had to scale down a cliff to lose the pursuers. Stories are a great thing to have in life because, they show the consequences of our actions, they help us see through the eyes of others, and they show us how to be human. Stories show the consequences of our actions. By reading or hearing stories they help you think things through, they show us things so that we don 't repeat them and, they help us respect what other people go through. Stories make you think things through this is shown when Harold thinks,” what is one of them fell by the time someone came? He could be charged with manslaughter”(Valgardson 258). This shows that he is thinking through what could happen to him. Stories also show us not to repeat things. In the short story A Matter Of Balance, it states,”at this point, there was nothing to do but return the way he came” ( Valdardson 254). This shows that Harold was in a situation that he could not get out of. Next time Harold goes to the park he will probably bring someone so he doesnt get in the same situation again. Stories also show respect for others. When Harold is stuck at a dead end he decides to scale down a