The real world. The very notion is absurd. Worlds and everything in them are made real by the stories that inhabit them.

When a population loses its stories, it loses its capacity for wonder - what remains is a life of drudgery and toil

What's a storyteller but someone who asks folks to believe in impossible things?

And even though they had eaten nothing, the girl still ended her day with a belly full of story—which sticks to the ribs even better than mutton.

A story helps folks face the world, even when it frightens 'em. And a lie does the opposite. It helps you hide.