Propulsion in stories

A story is a vehicle. Its basic function, regardless of how much it carries and in what style, is to go from a starting point to a destination. The journey may be a simple one, or it may be complex with many windings and detours, and the distance along one axis from origin to conclusion may be short — more on that in a bit — but running in place is not a story. That would be a vignette, a picture, a description or definition, yes, but not a story.