They say that every story begins
with an intolerable status quo.
Who it's intolerable for is an open question.
Maybe it's the protagonist...
&
Maybe not.
[Some protagonists spend the whole story
trying to get back to that status quo.]
Maybe it's the antagonist...
&
Maybe not.
Sometimes, the status quo is intolerable to the universe -
(as every status quo must become.)
And every non-blissful moment of living
is an intolerable status quo -
a state in search of [or hope for]
a better state to come.
