I'm here (for now, anyway!)
You tell someone a story, a narrative, the truth, a lie.
You don't tell someone a rabbit, a table, a book.
And neither do you tell someone an aspect, an attitude, a consideration, a parameter, a size, a shape.
In the latter cases, you tell someone (something) about a rabbit, table, book, aspect, attitude, etc.
In short, you have to have about there.
CJ