So yes, stories. We're here to talk about them. =3
Stories are, in my opinion, a method in which an underlying message can be effectively broadcasted to a wide and varied audience while simultaneously entertaining said audience with its contents. Stories form the core and driving force of many types of media (eg. Movies, Video Games) and exist to establish the genre of their contents onto their hosts.
While maybe not the most direct form of communication, stories allow the planting and growth of ideas in a reader's mind, consciously or not. They have the ability to bring out the deepest of emotions in people, serving to inspire, induce fear or to generate outrage. Feelings of sadness and joy are prevalent in stories, and the best of them have the potential to enrapture their listeners/readers. Humans are after all, full of emotion.
A story can be viewed as an idea made manifest. It is a resource that is created to convey meaning/ethics/morals. It exists to both educate and to entertain.
