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.