Thursday, July 06, 2006

And we all begin happily ever after

How would we live if the phrase, "And we all live happily ever after," begins a new story?

We're accustomed to seeing a similar sentence at the end of stories. It seems to function there as a perfunctory wrap-up, tacked on mostly as a story-telling ritual.

It seems to me there's always another story unfolding, however, or a new one that's about to begin. Instead of perfunctory endings, what if we focus on setting the precedent for the quality of our lives from the beginning?

How would we live if beginnings justify means?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps that is why fairy tales are so comforting. "Happily ever after" is what you want, and it is what you get. That's probably also why I love to write stories with weird, unhappy endings that leave you wondering. Take, for instance, my masterpiece, A Hint of Rosemary. ;)