Life is easier in stories.

I don't know about you, but as a person with Asperger's syndrome, I think life would be much easier if I could work out people's intentions - if little subtitles could appear and tell me what a person really wants or means. So many times I have misread what people meant, or been deceived because I took things at face value.

Maybe this is why I love stories so much.

When you read a book, a lot of the time characters' intentions are made explicit. You get insights into their thoughts and motives. Working out why they act the way they do is therefore easy, and you can understand them better and predict what is likely to happen. When you watch a film and a bad guy comes on, there is often some clue: the music, the way they look or their mannerisms.

Not so in real life. I have absolutely no idea what people truly mean, truly want. I can only go with what they tell me. I take them at face value.

When someone speaks nicely to me, I just assume they're nice. If they bitch about me behind my back or stab me in the back, I have absolutely no idea. And if someone is a bit harsh or abrupt or doesn't smile, I just think they're not friendly or they don't like me; yet sometimes they end up being the ones sticking up for me.

When someone does me a favour or does something thoughtful, I never think they might have ulterior motives: I just think they're being genuinely kind. And this may very well be the case... or not.

It would be much easier if life was like stories; if there were obvious clues about people's real intentions.